Focus
Imagine it is winter and you are walking down a cold snow-blown road in central Gaul late one afternoon during the declining years of the Roman Empire. You’re on your way to visit a friend. Even with a woollen robe over your toga, you’re cold. Maybe you shouldn’t have worn the sandals?
You arrive at your friend’s villa and bang on the gate. A moment later the gate opens and your friend says warmly (in Latin, of course), “Welcome! Come on in. Come and warm yourself by the focus!”
All of which is to say that the English word focus comes from the Latin word focus (fireplace, hearth). The focus was the source of heat and light in a home. Beyond this, the origin of the word is unknown.
If you are a teacher and you are asked, “What is the focus of your course?”, you are being asked, “What’s the source of heat and light, of energy and insight, in your course?”
Of course, there are other uses and meanings of the word focus. In the 1640s, the word was used to mean a ‘point of convergence’. At that time, focus also referred to the burning point of a lens. By 1796, focus was used to mean the centre of activity or energy. Still seems like heat and light to me!
And, finally, the word focaccia (i.e., focaccia bread) came to English in 1994 from Italian focaccia and Latin focacia (bread baked under the ashes of the hearth or fireplace).
Reference: Online Etymological Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/
You arrive at your friend’s villa and bang on the gate. A moment later the gate opens and your friend says warmly (in Latin, of course), “Welcome! Come on in. Come and warm yourself by the focus!”
All of which is to say that the English word focus comes from the Latin word focus (fireplace, hearth). The focus was the source of heat and light in a home. Beyond this, the origin of the word is unknown.
If you are a teacher and you are asked, “What is the focus of your course?”, you are being asked, “What’s the source of heat and light, of energy and insight, in your course?”
Of course, there are other uses and meanings of the word focus. In the 1640s, the word was used to mean a ‘point of convergence’. At that time, focus also referred to the burning point of a lens. By 1796, focus was used to mean the centre of activity or energy. Still seems like heat and light to me!
And, finally, the word focaccia (i.e., focaccia bread) came to English in 1994 from Italian focaccia and Latin focacia (bread baked under the ashes of the hearth or fireplace).
Reference: Online Etymological Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/
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