Klryz
Pronunciation guide: IPA symbols, stress and word endings

Vowels

iːseeɪsite / ɛbedæcat
ɑːfatherɒhot (UK)ɔːlawʊput
uːtooʌcupɜːbirdəabout
eɪdayaɪmyɔɪboyaʊnow
əʊ / oʊgo (UK / US)ɪəneareəhairʊətour

Consonants that look unusual

θthinðthisʃsheʒmeasure
tʃchurchdʒjudgeŋsingjyes

p b t d k g f v s z h m n l r w sound as in ordinary English spelling.

Marks

  • ˈ main stress, before the stressed syllable: /ˈwɔːtə/ water · ˌ lighter (secondary) stress: /ˌʌndəˈstænd/ understand
  • ː a long vowel · (r) an r said only in accents that pronounce it (most American, Scottish, Irish)

Common word endings

  • -s / -es (plurals; he/she form of verbs): /s/ after voiceless sounds (cats), /z/ after voiced (dogs), /ɪz/ after s, z, sh, ch, j sounds (buses, watches). Spelling: -es after s, x, z, ch, sh; consonant + y → -ies (city → cities).
  • -ed (past): /t/ after voiceless sounds (walked), /d/ after voiced (played), /ɪd/ after t or d (wanted). Spelling: love → loved, stop → stopped, carry → carried.
  • -ing: make → making, run → running, see → seeing.
  • Irregular: go, went, gone · be, was, been · see, saw, seen · man → men · child → children · mouse → mice.
  • Older (King James) forms: -eth = -s (he loveth = he loves) · -est with “thou” (thou lovest) · spake = spoke.

English Dictionary · 107,383 entries · Sources & licences

“focuses” is a form of

focus

UK /ˈfəʊ̯.kəs/ · US /ˈfoʊ̯.kəs/ noun, verb

Forms foci focuses focusses focusing focussing focused focussed

  1. noun (countable, optics) A point at which reflected or refracted rays of light converge. “The heat of sunlight at the focus of a magnifying glass can easily set dry leaves on fire.”
  2. noun (countable, geometry) A point of a conic at which rays reflected from a curve or surface converge.
  3. noun (uncountable, photography, cinematography) The fact of the convergence of light on the photographic medium. “Unfortunately, the license plate is out of focus in this image.”
  4. noun (uncountable, photography, cinematography) The quality of the convergence of light on the photographic medium. “During this scene, the boy’s face shifts subtly from soft focus into sharp focus.”
  5. noun (uncountable) Concentration of attention. “I believe I can bring the high degree of focus required for this important job.”
  6. noun (countable) Something to which activity, attention or interest is primarily directed. “My studies are my main focus right now.”
  7. noun (countable, seismology) The exact point of where an earthquake occurs, in three dimensions (underneath the epicentre). “The earthquake's focus was at exactly 37 degrees north, 18 degrees south, seventy five meters below the ground.”
  8. noun (graphical user interface) The status of being the currently active element in a user interface, often indicated by a visual highlight. “Text entered at the keyboard or pasted from a clipboard is sent to the component which currently has the focus.”
  9. verb (transitive) To cause (rays of light, etc) to converge at a single point.
  10. verb (transitive, optics) To adjust (a lens, an optical instrument) in order to position an image with respect to the focal plane. “You'll need to focus the microscope carefully in order to capture the full detail of this surface.”
  11. verb (intransitive, optics, of a lens, optical instrument, etc.) To adjust itself or be adjusted such that light from a scene converges appropriately to create a clear image. “I can't get the lens to focus.”
  12. verb (transitive) To direct attention, effort, or energy to a particular audience or task. “The president focused her remarks on the newcomers.”
  13. verb (intransitive) To concentrate one’s attention. “If you're going to beat your competitors, you need to focus.”
  14. verb (intransitive, followed by on or upon) To concentrate one's attention on something; to have as one's central point of interest, concern, etc. “I have to focus on my work.”
  15. verb (computing, graphical user interface, transitive) To transfer the input focus to (a visual element), so that it receives subsequent input. “The text box won't receive the user's keystrokes unless you explicitly focus it.”
  16. verb (accounting, formerly) To aggregate figures of accounts.

Synonyms

focal point adhere align anchor apply attend base center centre concentrate direct engage fixate hone point focusing focussing direction centering nidus stress pore rivet concenter concentre focalize focalise sharpen

Antonyms

defocus dilute ignore muddy blur

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."

Webster’s 1913

  1. noun A point in which the rays of light meet, after being reflected or refrcted, and at which the image is formed; as, the focus of a lens or mirror.
  2. noun A point so related to a conic section and certain straight line called the directrix that the ratio of the distace between any point of the curve and the focus to the distance of the same point from the directrix is constant.
  3. verb To bring to a focus; to focalize; as, to focus a camera. R. Hunt.

Etymology [L. focus hearth, fireplace; perh. akin to E. bake. Cf. Curfew, Fuel, Fusil the firearm.]

Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “focus”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details

Sanskrit

Sanskrit dictionary entries whose meaning includes “focus” (best matches first).