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Which astronomer introduced the word focus as a mathematical term?

focus

[foh-kuhs] / ˈfoʊ kəs /




NOUN
point at which light or sound converge
Synonyms


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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The Welsh government said its latest strategy, which is expected to be published this month, had a particular focus on young carers and recognises their contributions.

From BBC ● Nov. 12, 2026

Agile Robots is among a crop of start-ups in Germany trying to shift AI from the digital realm into the physical world, with a particular focus on its deployment among the country's traditional manufacturers.

From Barron's ● Nov. 12, 2026

Wendy’s will also try to rebuild its menu with a focus on fresher and higher-quality ingredients for its main menu items.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 12, 2026

For months after Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the Black Sea was a focus of naval warfare and attacks on commercial shipping, but gradually hostilities there ebbed.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 12, 2026

Part challenge, part analysis, the thrill of adrenaline and focus.

From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith

The fasting mice had better blood values, less fatty liver and liver inflammation and above all: they developed less liver cancer and had fewer cancer foci in the liver.

From Science Daily ● May 7, 2024

The line through the foci is called the transverse axis.

From Textbooks ● Sep. 23, 2020

TRY IT #7 Graph the ellipse given by the equation Identify and label the center, vertices, co-vertices, and foci.

From Textbooks ● Sep. 23, 2020

The line through the foci, is called the transverse axis.

From Textbooks ● May 6, 2020

Even therapeutic measures have the important result not only of curing the patient but of reducing the foci of infection.

From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson

Much of the concern about supply vulnerabilities focuses on China, if only because it has become by far the largest producer of a widening variety of goods.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 12, 2026

Gioncarlo Valentine is an award-winning photographer and writer from Baltimore, whose work focuses on Black life and legacy.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 11, 2026

His team focuses on inflammation, tissue repair, and regeneration, biological processes that also play important roles in cancer and numerous other diseases.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 5, 2026

Prevost was a passionate ambassador of Francis's encyclical "Laudato Si,'" which focuses on caring for the planet as "our common home."

From Barron's ● Nov. 5, 2026

She focuses only on him, pulling everything that he is with her as she breaks herself apart.

From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern

"This work," it says, "has been done in line with government regulation and dietary guidance, which focusses on the nutritional content of food rather than the level of processing."

From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2026

"The metallic tip acts like an antenna and focusses the electromagnetic field in a tiny area below its apex."

From Science Daily ● Nov. 20, 2024

“This shocking news focusses our minds on Michael’s wife Clare and their sons,” said Roy Taylor, a professor of medicine and metabolism at Newcastle University who co-authored “The 8-Week Blood Sugar Diet” with Mosley.

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 7, 2024

This latest research focusses on how this happens at the structural level.

From Science Daily ● Dec. 5, 2023

The analysis above focusses our attention on the impact on individual behaviour, where we regard the marginal calculation by agents themselves.

From Definition & Reality in the General Theory of Political Economy by Thomas Colignatus

Ellison has long focused on cancer research and has made substantial donations to the cause.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 12, 2026

In the years that followed, Nvidia evolved from a company that focused on video-game graphic cards to one that designed graphics processing units, or GPUs, that powered the artificial-intelligence boom.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 12, 2026

At the time, Nvidia focused on chips for videogames, and Jensen met Kang in Asia, said a person who worked at one of Kang’s portfolio of companies and said he helped connect the two men.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 12, 2026

Although the research focused on ovarian cancer, the scientists suspect that the same biological process could occur in other forms of the disease.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 12, 2026

“Sometimes it’s hard, you know? You get so focused on figuring out your next step.”

From "Clairboyance" by Kristiana Kahakauwila

But that didn't stop its shares from surging nearly 10 percent on Thursday, as investors focussed on its profit outlook.

From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026

Across Caracas and La Guaira, many were focussed instead on Sunday services in churches to remember those lost and still missing.

From Barron's ● Jul. 5, 2026

With the regime utterly focussed on its own survival, Aniseh Bassiri Tabrizi, a Chatham House analyst based in Abu Dhabi, does not expect to see a different approach to dissent.

From BBC ● Jul. 5, 2026

She said previous studies had focussed more on porpoises but the picture "remained unclear" for common dolphins.

From BBC ● Jun. 10, 2026

“Partly on his interest being focussed on what he calls ‘the soul,’ which he persists in regarding as an entity independent of the physical environment, whereas, as I tried to point out to him ...”

From "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley

It was also a way to center Anthony because I was physically focusing and trying to put my energy on capturing the moment and being really present.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 12, 2026

The current stage is focusing on stomach rinsing, which will check if nurdles have been found in the birds' stomachs.

From BBC ● Nov. 12, 2026

As birthrates fell from 2007 levels, the company in the 2010s began focusing more on offerings geared toward “big kids,” and predicted bigger discounting in the baby segment.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 10, 2026

Investors are focusing on crude oil prices after President Trump downplayed the prospect of further U.S. strikes on Iran.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 10, 2026

Instead of focusing on one another, now they’re worried about getting in trouble.

From "Clairboyance" by Kristiana Kahakauwila

"We spent the first 20 years of this century focussing almost entirely on counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency," said Sir Alex Younger, who was Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service from 2014-2020.

From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026

"As intervention is required, the government in making appropriate interventions but we're already focussing on keeping bills down."

From BBC ● Mar. 22, 2026

The NHS was thought to have only two weeks' supply in stock and so was focussing on emergency patients and the most complex cases on the waiting list.

From BBC ● Feb. 24, 2026

However, Tom Lubbock, from pollsters JL Partners, thinks focussing on Reform UK is "extremely smart politics".

From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2025

Occasionally, focussing on a linguistic alteration can mislead us into thinking that something important has happened when it hasn’t, or that something happened at a particular moment when it actually happened earlier.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton


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