Focus Definition
fōkəs
foci, focused, focuses, focusing, focussed, focusses, focussing
noun
foci, focuses
The state of maximum distinctness or clarity of such an image.
American Heritage Medicine
The region of a localized bodily infection or disease.
American Heritage Medicine
Webster's New World
The point where rays of light, heat, etc. or waves of sound come together, or from which they spread or seem to spread; specif., the point where rays of light reflected by a mirror or refracted by a lens meet (called real focus) or the point where they would meet if prolonged backward through the lens or mirror (called virtual focus)
Webster's New World
An adjustment of the focal length to make a clear image.
To bring a camera into focus.
Webster's New World
verb
focused, focuses, focusing, focussed, focussing
To meet at a focus.
Webster's New World
To bring into focus.
Webster's New World
To cause (light rays, for example) to converge on or toward a central point; concentrate.
American Heritage
To render (an object or image) in clear outline or sharp detail by adjustment of one's vision or an optical device; bring into focus.
American Heritage
To adjust the focal length of (the eye, a lens, etc.) in order to produce a clear image.
Webster's New World
Synonyms:
idiom
in focus
- clear; distinct; sharply defined
Webster's New World
out of focus
- indistinct; blurred
Webster's New World
Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Focus
Origin of Focus
New Latin from Latin hearth (probably in reference to the fact that a lens or parabolic mirror can concentrate sunlight on a single point to start a fire)
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
-
Latin focus (“hearth, fireplace”), of unknown origin. Usually connected with Old Armenian բոց (bocʿ).
From Wiktionary
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