focus

== English == === Etymology === Borrowed from Latin focus (“hearth, fireplace”); see there for more. Related to fuel. Kepler introduced the term into mathematics and the sciences in describing elliptical orbits of planets (quote from Nicholas Mee) : "One of the interesting properties of an ellipse is that if there were a light bulb at one focus, then all the light that it emits would reflect off the ellipse and converge at the other focus. This is why Kepler originally used the name focus for these points." === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈfəʊ.kəs/ (General American, Canada) IPA(key): /ˈfoʊ.kəs/ (General Australian) IPA(key): /ˈfəʉ.kəs/ (New Zealand) IPA(key): /ˈfɐʉ.kəs/ Hyphenation: fo‧cus Rhymes: -əʊkəs === Noun === focus (countable and uncountable, plural foci or focuses or focusses) (countable, optics) A point at which reflected or refracted rays of light converge. Synonym: focal point (countable, geometry) A point of a conic at which rays reflected from a curve or surface converge. (uncountable, photography, cinematography) The fact of the convergence of light on the photographic medium. (uncountable, photography, cinematography) The quality of the convergence of light on the photographic medium. (uncountable) Concentration of attention. (countable) Something to which activity, attention or interest is primarily directed. Synonym: focal point (countable, seismology) The exact point of where an earthquake occurs, in three dimensions (underneath the epicentre). (graphical user interface) The status of being the currently active element in a user interface, often indicated by a visual highlight. (linguistics) The most important word or phrase in a sentence or passage, or the one that imparts information. An object used in casting a magic spell. (ichthyology) The centre of an older fish's scale, which is the point where a younger fish's scale starts to grow from. Coordinate terms: annulus, circulus ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== === Verb === focus (third-person singular simple present focuses or focusses, present participle focusing or focussing, simple past and past participle focused or focussed) (transitive) To cause (rays of light, etc) to converge at a single point. (transitive, optics) To adjust (a lens, an optical instrument) in order to position an image with respect to the focal plane. (intransitive, optics, of a lens, optical instrument, etc.) To adjust itself or be adjusted such that light from a scene converges appropriately to create a clear image. (transitive) To direct attention, effort, or energy to a particular audience or task. (intransitive) To concentrate one’s attention. (intransitive, followed by on or upon) To concentrate one's attention on something; to have as one's central point of interest, concern, etc. (computing, graphical user interface, transitive) To transfer the input focus to (a visual element), so that it receives subsequent input. (accounting, formerly) To aggregate figures of accounts. ==== Usage notes ==== The spellings with -ss- are more common in Commonwealth English than in American English, but in both varieties they are less common than the spellings focuses, focusing, focused. ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Related terms ==== ==== Translations ==== === References === === Anagrams === Fusco == Catalan == === Etymology === Borrowed from Latin focus. Compare the inherited doublet foc. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈfɔ.kus] Hyphenation: fo‧cus === Noun === focus m (invariable) focus == Dutch == === Etymology === Borrowed from New Latin focus. The figurative sense probably derives from English focus. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈfoː.kʏs/ Hyphenation: fo‧cus === Noun === focus m (plural focussen, no diminutive) (optics, physics) focus Synonym: brandpunt (figurative) focus, centre (linguistics) focus ==== Derived terms ==== focaal focusafstand focussen ==== Related terms ==== foyer ==== Descendants ==== Afrikaans: fokus === References === == Italian == === Etymology === Borrowed from Latin focus, whence also Italian fuoco (an inherited doublet). === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈfɔ.kus/ Rhymes: -ɔkus Hyphenation: fò‧cus === Noun === focus m (invariable) focus (all senses) === Anagrams === Fusco == Latin == === Etymology === The origin is uncertain. Usually connected with Old Armenian բոց (bocʻ). Some connect this along with faciēs, facētus, fax to Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- (“to shine”). In that case, cognate at the root level with Sanskrit भाति (bhā́ti), Ancient Greek φαίνω (phaínō, “to shine”), etc. Matasović, and Hamp before him, opt to derive this from Proto-Indo-European *dʰegʷʰ- (“to burn”); Matasović believes that the -c- would have spread from the nominative of a root noun *dʰṓgʷʰ-s (> *dʰṓkʷʰ-s). === Pronunciation === (Classical Latin) IPA(key): [ˈfɔ.kʊs] (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): [ˈfɔː.kus] === Noun === focus m (genitive focī); second declension fireplace, hearth firepan, coal pan, brazier (figuratively) house, family (Late Latin) fire ==== Declension ==== Second-declension noun, with locative. Locative used in the sense "by the hearth". ==== Synonyms ==== (fire): ignis ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Related terms ==== focillare foculare ==== Descendants ==== Borrowings: === References === === Further reading === “focus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press “focus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers "focus", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887) “focus”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette. Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎[2], London: Macmillan and Co. “focus”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers “focus”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin == Romanian == === Etymology === Borrowed from French focus or German Fokus. === Noun === focus n (plural focusuri) focus ==== Declension ====