What is the difference between focus and attention?
focus | attention |
(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=
, magazine=(American Scientist), title= (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.
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.
To concentrate one's attention.
To concentrate one’s attention.
(label) Mental focus.
*
, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=1
, passage=In the old days, to my commonplace and unobserving mind, he gave no evidences of genius whatsoever. He never read me any of his manuscripts, […], and therefore my lack of detection of his promise may in some degree be pardoned. But he had then none of the oddities and mannerisms which I hold to be inseparable from genius, and which struck my attention in after days when I came in contact with the Celebrity.}}
* , chapter=3
, title= * {{quote-magazine, date=2012-03, author=William E. Carter, Merri Sue Carter, volume=100, issue=2, page=87, magazine=(American Scientist)
, title= (label) An action or remark expressing concern for or interest in someone or something, especially romantic interest.
* 1818 , (Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley), (Frankenstein); or, the Modern Prometheus , ch. 3,
* 1910 , (Stephen Leacock), " ,
A state of alertness in the standing position.
Attention is a synonym of focus.
In uncountable terms the difference between focus and attention
is that focus is concentration of attention while attention is mental focus.As nouns the difference between focus and attention
is that focus is a point at which reflected or refracted rays of light converge while attention is mental focus.As a verb focus
is to cause (rays of light, etc) to converge at a single point.As an interjection attention is
{{cx|military|lang=en}} Used as a command to bring soldiers to the attention position.focus
English
(wikipedia focus)Noun
Catherine Clabby
Focus on Everything, passage=Not long ago, it was difficult to produce photographs of tiny creatures with every part in focus'.
Verb
- You'll need to focus the microscope carefully in order to capture the full detail of this surface.
- Focus on passing the test.
- 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 focusattention
English
(wikipedia attention)Noun
(en-noun)The Mirror and the Lamp, passage=One saint's day in mid-term a certain newly appointed suffragan-bishop came to the school chapel, and there preached on “The Inner Life.” He at once secured attention by his informal method, and when presently the coughing of Jarvis […] interrupted the sermon, he altogether captivated his audience with a remark about cough lozenges being cheap and easily procurable.}}
The British Longitude Act Reconsidered, passage=But was it responsible governance to pass the Longitude Act without other efforts to protect British seamen? Or might it have been subterfuge—a disingenuous attempt to shift attention away from the realities of their life at sea.}}
- She attended her sickbed; her watchful attentions triumphed over the malignity of the distemper.
- For some time past I have been the recipient of very marked attentions from a young lady.