Origin: Germanic Old English suffix
Highlight has 6 different meanings across 2 categories:
an area of lightness in a picture
"The sunset created a bright highlight on the side of her face that made her look almost ethereal."
An area or a spot in a drawing, painting, or photograph that is strongly illuminated.
"The morning sun created a bright highlight on the wet pavement after the rainstorm."
In plain English: A highlight is the best or most exciting part of something.
"The report's main highlight was the company's record profits for the year."
Usage: As a noun, highlight refers to a bright spot where light strikes an object most intensely, such as the gleam on a wet surface or the shine on a painted cheek. Use this term when describing areas of strong illumination in visual art or photography rather than for emphasizing text points.
move into the foreground to make more visible or prominent
"The introduction highlighted the speaker's distinguished career in linguistics"
apply a highlighter to one's cheeks or eyebrows in order to make them more prominent
"highlight the area above your eyebrows"
To make prominent; emphasize.
"The presenter used bright colors to highlight the most important statistics on her chart."
In plain English: To highlight something means to make it stand out or be more noticeable than everything else around it.
"She highlighted the main points in her notes to make them easier to review."
Usage: Use highlight to draw attention to the most important parts of a story or presentation by making them stand out visually or verbally. Do not use it to describe simply shining light on an object unless you are specifically referring to creating a bright spot.
The word highlight is a compound formed from the words high and light. It originally meant to make something stand out by illuminating it brightly or placing it at an elevated position of importance.