Focusing

How to spell focusing

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce focusing

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does focusing mean?

1. verbConcentrating attention or effort on something, or adjusting an instrument to produce a sharp image.

Focusing in a sentence

• Focusing on one report at a time helped her clear the backlog.

• The photographer was focusing the lens on the distant hills.

Where does focusing come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin focus, which literally meant 'hearth' or 'fireplace', the warm central point of a Roman home. Astronomers and mathematicians of the seventeenth century, notably Johannes Kepler, borrowed the Latin term to name the point at which rays of light converge, treating it as a kind of burning-point much like a fire on a hearth. From that scientific use English developed the verb 'to focus', meaning to bring to a sharp central point, and the participle 'focusing' followed naturally. The spelling trap lies in the single 's': because the stress falls on the first syllable, the final consonant is not doubled in the standard form, although the older British variant 'focussing' with a double 's' still appears. Remembering the calm, single hearth of the Latin focus is a neat way to recall the single 's'.

How the word is built

• focus (Latin: hearth, central point)
• -ing (present participle/gerund suffix)