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focalis

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word focalis

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1129/1138–1152, a diploma of Conrad III
Ultimate origin
Latin focus
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin focus
French feu
Italian fuoco
English focus
Latin focalis
From the same root
English curfew ← focus
Latin focaris ← focus
Latin foculus ← focus

Forms

focalis (neuter focale); third declension[1][2] As a noun it appears as ⟨focale⟩, ⟨focalia⟩ and ⟨focalium⟩, with spellings such as ⟨fochale⟩, ⟨focallium⟩, ⟨fucale⟩, ⟨foale⟩ and ⟨fuale⟩.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin focus (“hearth, fireplace”) + -ālis.[1][4][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first source is a diploma of Conrad III, which grants a church two cartloads a day of wood for burning, not for building.[1][4]

Semantic evolution

It was an adjective of the hearth and of fuel: ligna focālia was firewood, and a house with a hearth was a domus focālis.[1][2] The MLW also records a petra focālis, a stone for striking sparks.[1] Du Cange cites focālis residentia for French feu et lieu, a household.[5] As a noun, focāle or the plural focālia meant firewood or fuel, peat and turf included;[3][2] in British sources it could also mean a hearth tax.[2] Etymonline derives English fuel from Old French foaille, from the medieval legal term focālia, the right to take wood for fuel.[6][3]

Modern Latin made a new focālis “of a focus”, the source of English focal in the 1690s.[6]

Timeline

  • 1129/1138–1152 – A diploma of Conrad III grants wood for burning.[1][4]
  • c. 1160 – A charter in the Newbattle register uses the noun for fuel.[2]
  • c. 1200 – English fuel is recorded, through Old French.[6]
  • 1300 – A British record speaks of a house with a hearth.[2]
  • 1505 – A hearth tax in Bromfield and Yale is called by this name.[2]
  • 1690s – English focal is formed from Modern Latin.[6]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. (Medieval Latin) Of the hearth; having a fireplace, domestic.[1][2]
  2. (Medieval Latin) For burning, for fuel;[1][2] ligna focālia: firewood.[1][2]
  3. (Medieval Latin) Striking sparks;[1] petra focālis: a flint.[1]
  4. (New Latin) Of a focus.[6]

Noun

  1. (Medieval Latin) Firewood, fuel.[3][2]
  2. (Medieval Latin) A hearth tax.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
  6. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
Cite this entry

“Focalis.” Etymologically, 24 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/focalis. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.

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