focal
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈfəʊ.kl̩/
ipa: /ˈfoʊ.kl̩/
rhymes: -əʊkəl
Forms: form: focals
Etymology: Learned borrowing from New Latin focālis. By surface analysis, focus + -al.
Senses: examples: text: Again, if the plane of the impressed couple intersects the mean plane between N and C, it will envelope the cone whose focals are ON, ON′, and whose internal axis is therefore OA.
ref: 1877, James Booth, A Treatise on Some New Geometrical Methods, page 209:
topics: geometry
mathematics
sciences
glosses: One of two lines perpendicular to the axis of a cone such that the cosine of the angle between the line and the axis is equal to the ratio of the cosines o the semiangles of the cone.
examples: text: Choose your focals to blend well with the intention of your magical work or ritual.
ref: 2000, Sirona Knight, Celtic Traditions: Druids, Faeries, and Wiccan Rituals, page 193:
text: And no witch leaves behind focals.
ref: 2019, Faith Hunter, Circle of the Moon, page 27:
text: I use focals for aura work sometimes.
ref: 2022, Tracy Deonn, Bloodmarked:
topics: Wicca
lifestyle
religion
glosses: An object that is used to focus concentration when performing magic.
examples: text: As predicted, focals who were paired with peers produced significantly higher levels of reasoning at posttest ( M = 35.34, SD = 4.44 ) than did focals paired with adults.
ref: 1992, Merrill-Palmer Quarterly - Volume 38, page 198:
text: Thirty-one percent of the focals rated as low transformational by subordinates at time 1 were engaging in two of these three leadership/management styles, and 54% of the focals rated as low transformational were engaging in only one of the three styles.
ref: 1996, Ronald J. Heslegrave, An Exploration of Psychological and Psychophysiologial Measures as Predictors of Successful Performance Under Stress, page 69:
text: As this study covered 46 individual play behaviors, I did not have time to statistically analyze each individual behavior against all age intervals, for all three focals.
ref: 2006, Alison E. Cook, The Ontogeny of Play in Infant Female Bonobos, page 48:
text: Relevancy provides focals motivation to change by making the links clear between their behavior and the success of the organization.
ref: 2019, Allan H. Church, David W. Bracken, John W. Fleenor, Handbook of Strategic 360 Feedback:
glosses: The individual who is the focus of a study or review, when the study or review is based on that individual's interactions with others.
examples: text: Attempting to balance priorities across the exploration, science, and aeronautics programs requires constant and complex negotiations betwen the center focals, the projects they represent, and Langley's engineering directorates.
ref: 2007 Spring, Keith L. Woodman, “Nothing Weak About It: Thriving in a Weak-Matrix Project Environment”, in Ask Magazine, page 47:
text: Consolidate all focals' requirements: To be done by the Operations Manager.
ref: 2012, Raul Valverde, Information Systems Reengineering for Modern Business Systems., page 251:
text: Providing technical support to regional climate and WSG focals of all operational divisions on water resilience will amplify the larger pool of project officers.
ref: 2022, Asian Development Bank, Mainstreaming Water Resilience in Asia and the Pacific:
glosses: A representative of a group or class of people within an organizational system.
examples: text: Gesturing at the cleanliness of the design, Medill says, “Originally we had 'focals,'“—signs that call out special offers—“but they blocked eyeballs.”
ref: 2007, David Weinberger, Everything Is Miscellaneous:
glosses: A sign or similar type of marketing material designed to draw attention to special deals.
examples: text: We become "native speakers," but variably with respect to numerous valued/powered criteria of truth/goodness/beauty (focals) and their derivative values which "leave" "some” more valuable ( as speakers ) than others.
ref: 1997, Lewis Acrelius Froman, Language and Power, page 100:
text: When using supporting flowers, consider their size and shape in relation to the focals and how the colour supports and enhances them.
ref: 2022, Celestina Robertson, Cut Flowers: Bloom Gardener's Guide, page 25:
glosses: The central or most important element of something; a focal element.
examples: text: In the Visual Survey Analysis Report, focals are divided into four categories; visual, historical, symbolic, and cultural focals. Focals might correspond to the Kevin Lynch definition of landmarks.
ref: 1978, New Orleans region transportation study, page 29:
glosses: A major point of interest; an attraction.
examples: text: So informants, like languages, show a stable, agreed upon placement of focals, but considerable variability in the boundaries for the extensions of terms.
ref: 1995, Roy G. D'Andrade, The Development of Cognitive Anthropology, page 108:
glosses: An exemplar of a concept.