focus
Part of speech: noun
verb
Morphological type: simple
Topics: accounting
arts
biology
broadcasting
business
cinematography
computing
engineering
film
finance
geography
geology
geometry
graphical-user-interface
hobbies
human-sciences
ichthyology
lifestyle
linguistics
mathematics
media
natural-sciences
optics
photography
physical-sciences
physics
sciences
seismology
television
zoology
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."
Inflected forms:
form: foci
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: focuses
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: focusses
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: focuses
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: focusses
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: focusing
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: focussing
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: focused
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: focused
pos: verb
tags: past
form: focussed
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: focussed
pos: verb
tags: past
Senses:
gloss: A point at which reflected or refracted rays of light converge.
pos: noun
tags: countable
examples: The heat of sunlight at the focus of a magnifying glass can easily set dry leaves on fire.
gloss: A point of a conic at which rays reflected from a curve or surface converge.
pos: noun
tags: countable
gloss: The fact of the convergence of light on the photographic medium.
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
examples: Unfortunately, the license plate is out of focus in this image.
Not long ago, it was difficult to produce photographs of tiny creatures with every part in focus.[…]A photo processing technique called focus stacking has changed that. Developed as a tool to electronically combine the sharpest bits of multiple digital images, focus stacking is a boon to biologists seeking full focus on a micron scale.
gloss: The quality of the convergence of light on the photographic medium.
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
examples: During this scene, the boy’s face shifts subtly from soft focus into sharp focus.
gloss: Concentration of attention.
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
examples: I believe I can bring the high degree of focus required for this important job.
gloss: Something to which activity, attention or interest is primarily directed.
pos: noun
tags: countable
examples: My studies are my main focus right now.
gloss: The exact point of where an earthquake occurs, in three dimensions (underneath the epicentre).
pos: noun
tags: countable
examples: The earthquake's focus was at exactly 37 degrees north, 18 degrees south, seventy five meters below the ground.
gloss: The status of being the currently active element in a user interface, often indicated by a visual highlight.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: Text entered at the keyboard or pasted from a clipboard is sent to the component which currently has the focus.
gloss: The most important word or phrase in a sentence or passage, or the one that imparts information.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
gloss: An object used in casting a magic spell.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: Candles, in fact, are an essential ingredient in many spells. They can be used as either the focus of the spell or as a component that sets the spell's overall mood and tone.
gloss: The centre of an older fish's scale, which is the point where a younger fish's scale starts to grow from.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
gloss: To cause (rays of light, etc) to converge at a single point.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: The difficulties of focussing colour-light signals on curved tracks to ensure maximum sighting distance were underlined in the recent official report [...] on a low-speed collision at Newcastle Central on July 25, 1960, between an unfitted freight and a diesel-hauled passenger train.
gloss: To adjust (a lens, an optical instrument) in order to position an image with respect to the focal plane.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: You'll need to focus the microscope carefully in order to capture the full detail of this surface.
gloss: To adjust itself or be adjusted such that light from a scene converges appropriately to create a clear image.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
usually
examples: I can't get the lens to focus.
The camera focuses automatically on the subject's eyes.
gloss: To direct attention, effort, or energy to a particular audience or task.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: The president focused her remarks on the newcomers.
gloss: To concentrate one’s attention.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: If you're going to beat your competitors, you need to focus.
gloss: To concentrate one's attention on something; to have as one's central point of interest, concern, etc.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: I have to focus on my work.
gloss: To transfer the input focus to (a visual element), so that it receives subsequent input.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: The text box won't receive the user's keystrokes unless you explicitly focus it.
gloss: To aggregate figures of accounts.
pos: verb
examples: Whole pages of it are filled with masses of figures, generally single numbers added up in batches, and then the totals added in batches again, as though he were "focusing" some account, as the auditors put it.
Synonyms: adhere
align
anchor
apply
attend
base
center
centre
concentrate
direct
engage
fixate
hone
point
Antonyms: defocus
dilute
ignore
muddy
Related words: focal
Derived words: apofocus
autofocus
bifocus
cofocus
deep focus
disfocus
focus group
focus-group
focus hunting
focus lamp
focus lantern
focusless
focus puller
in focus
laser focus
long-focus lens
nanofocus
out of focus
perifocus
pull-focus
self-focus
soft focus
underfocus
virtual focus
hyperfocus
microfocus
overfocus
prefocus
retrofocus
cryofocus
defocus
focusability
focusable
focuser
focus pocus
focusser
hydrofocus
immunofocus
misfocus
refocus
unfocus
Translations:
lang: Bulgarian
word: фокус
roman: fokus
lang: Catalan
word: focus
lang: Danish
word: fokus
lang: Dutch
word: focus
lang: Dutch
word: brandpunt
lang: Estonian
word: fookus
lang: Finnish
word: polttopiste
lang: Finnish
word: leikkauspiste
lang: French
word: foyer
lang: German
word: Brennpunkt
lang: Indonesian
word: titik api
lang: Irish
word: fócas
lang: Italian
word: fuoco
lang: Japanese
word: 焦点
roman: shōten
lang: Korean
word: 초점
roman: chojeom
lang: Macedonian
word: фокус
roman: fokus
lang: Māori
word: ngahunga
lang: Portuguese
word: foco
lang: Russian
word: фо́кус
roman: fókus
lang: Russian
word: фока́льная то́чка
roman: fokálʹnaja tóčka
lang: Spanish
word: foco
lang: Tagalog
word: katumbukan
lang: Vietnamese
word: tiêu điểm