FOCUS


Meaning of FOCUS in English

I. ˈfōkəs noun

( plural focuses -ōkəsə̇z ; or fo·ci -ōˌsī)

Etymology: New Latin, from Latin, fireplace, hearth; perhaps akin to Armenian bosor red, bots flame

1. : a point at which rays (as of light, heat, sound) converge or from which they diverge or appear to diverge ; specifically : the point where the geometrical lines or their prolongations conforming to the rays diverging from or converging toward another point intersect and give rise to an image after reflection by a mirror or refraction by a lens or optical system

2.

a. : focal length

a telescope of twenty-feet focus

b. : adjustment (as of the eye or an eyepiece) for distinct vision

a telescope or microscope comes sharply to focus

c. : the position in which something must be placed (as in relation to a camera lens) for clearness of image or clarity of mental perception

the whole scene was difficult to bring into focus

brought into immediate focus the meaning of the war

d. : the area that may be seen distinctly by the eye or resolved into a clear image by a lens

wide- focus lens camera

3. : one of the points that with the corresponding directrix defines a conic section

conic foci

4. : a localized area of disease or the chief site of a generalized disease or infection

a tuberculous focus in the lungs

5.

[Latin]

archaic : hearth , fireplace

6. : a central point: as

a. : a center of activity or attraction or one drawing the greatest attention and interest

Whitehall … was the focus of political intrigue and of fashionable gaiety — T.B.Macaulay

b. : a point of concentration or of emanation

a happy man or woman is … a radiating focus of goodwill — R.L.Stevenson

c. : one aspect or area of a culture that is more complex and extensively elaborated than others

d. : focal area

7. : the place of origin of an earthquake being a rather indefinite region that approaches nearest to a point in some volcanic earthquakes and nearest to a line or plane in some tectonic earthquakes

8. : the first-formed usually central part of a fish scale

9. : a unit of classification in the Midwestern system for American archaeology constituting a group of components yielding artifacts almost identical in those features determinative of type — see aspect ; compare pattern , phase

Synonyms: see center

- in focus

- out of focus

II. verb

( focused also focussed ; focused also focussed ; focusing also focussing ; focuses also focusses )

transitive verb

1.

a. : to bring (as light rays) to a focus : concentrate

b. : to cause (an electron beam especially in a television tube) to converge and give a small bright spot

2. : to cause to be concentrated

the crime focused public attention on the problem of parole

3. : to adjust the focus of (as the eye or a lens)

focusing the glasses on a distant ship

4. : to bring (as an image) into focus

the most clearly focused picture yet available of the American conservative mind at work — Eric Goldman

intransitive verb

1. : to come to a focus : converge

2. : to adjust one's eye or a camera to a certain range

newborn babies cannot focus for several months

III. intransitive verb

: to concentrate attention or effort

she was already focusing on her next role

Webster's New International English Dictionary.      Новый международный словарь английского языка Webster.