Here's a breakdown:
* Bold: Makes text appear thicker and heavier, indicating importance or emphasis.
* Italic: Makes text slanted, often used for names of books, movies, or other works, or to indicate foreign words or phrases.
* Underline: Draws a line beneath the text, commonly used for links in web pages, but can also be used for emphasis.
While these are primarily visual cues, they can sometimes carry specific semantic meaning depending on context. For example, in scientific writing, italics are often used for genus and species names.