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Focus vs Emphasize - What's the difference?

focus | emphasize |

In transitive terms the difference between focus and emphasize

is that focus is to adjust (a lens, an optical instrument) in order to position an image with respect to the focal plane while emphasize is to stress, give emphasis or extra weight to (something).

As a noun focus

is a point at which reflected or refracted rays of light converge.

focus

English

(wikipedia focus)

Noun

  • (countable, optics) A point at which reflected or refracted rays of light converge.
  • (countable, geometry) A point of a conic at which rays reflected from a curve or surface converge.
  • (uncountable, photography, cinematography) The fact of the convergence of light on the photographic medium.
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author= Catherine Clabby
  • , magazine=(American Scientist), title= Focus on Everything , passage=Not long ago, it was difficult to produce photographs of tiny creatures with every part in focus'.
  • (uncountable, photography, cinematography) The quality of the convergence of light on the photographic medium.
  • (uncountable) Concentration of attention.
  • (countable, seismology) The exact point of where an earthquake occurs, in three dimensions.
  • (computing, graphical user interface) The indicator of the currently active element in a user interface.
  • (linguistics) The most important word or phrase in a sentence or passage, or the one that imparts information.
  • Verb

  • To cause (rays of light, etc) to converge at a single point.
  • 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.
  • To concentrate one's attention.
  • Focus on passing the test.
  • To concentrate one’s attention.
  • If you're going to beat your competitors, you need to focus .

    Usage notes

    The spellings focusses'', ''focussing'', ''focussed'' are more common in Commonwealth English than in American English, but in both varieties they are less common than the spellings ''focuses'', ''focusing'', ''focused .

    Derived terms

    * focus group * in focus * out of focus

    emphasize

    English

    Alternative forms

    * emphasise

    Verb

    (emphasiz)
  • To stress, give emphasis or extra weight to (something).
  • His two-fingered gesture emphasized what he had told his boss to do with his job.

    Synonyms

    * betone * stress * underscore

    Antonyms

    * de-emphasize * downplay

    Derived terms

    * reemphasize * overemphasize * underemphasize