focus Latin · revision 652

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈfɔ.kʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈfɔː.kus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''focus''' ''m'' (genitive focī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The origin is uncertain.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) A connection with [[fax|t=torch]] is impossible in form, according to de Vaan, and an origin in a root of the shape *Dʰ-k(ʷ) would break the rules of PIE roots.^(de Vaan 2008) Hamp explained ''focus'' as a back-formation from [[foculus]], which he derived from a root [[m|ine-pro|*dʰegʷʰ-|t=to burn]]; de Vaan finds this difficult in its chronology.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) The word is also usually compared with [[xcl|բոց|tr=bocʻ|t=flame]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Ancient writers derived it from [[foveo|alt=fovēre]] “to warm”: Varro said that anything that keeps a fire is a ''focus'', and Ovid that the hearth is named from flames and because it warms all things.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is found from Plautus on,^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) meaning the domestic [[m|en|hearth]]: in the ''Aulularia'' offerings are put on the hearth for the household god.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The Roman ''focus'' was the hearth in the atrium, centre of the worship of the Lar of the household,^(OLD 2012) and so it stood for home and family, often in the pair ''arae et foci''.^(OLD 2012) It was also the hearth of Vesta, a sacrificial hearth or altar, a funeral pyre, and the fire of a lighthouse or kiln.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ In Late Latin it came to mean [[m|en|fire]] itself,^(Wiktionary)^(Niermeyer 1976)^(Etymonline) the sense of its Romance descendants such as [[it|fuoco]], [[fr|feu]] and [[es|fuego]].^(Wiktionary) In 1604 Kepler used it in mathematics for a point of convergence, perhaps from the burning point of a lens, and Hobbes brought it into English in the 1650s.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it for the hearth of the household god.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato uses it for the hearth on which bread is baked.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero speaks of the public hearth of Vesta.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Vergil uses it for funeral pyres.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * Early Middle Ages – It is used for fire.^(Niermeyer 1976)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1604 – Kepler uses it for a point of convergence.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1650s – Hobbes introduces it into English.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A domestic [[m|en|hearth]], [[m|en|fireplace]], centre of the household cult.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(figurative)'' Home; a household, family.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A sacrificial hearth, an [[m|en|altar]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # A [[m|en|brazier]]; a place where fires are lit, such as a kiln, lighthouse or funeral pyre.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(Late Latin)'' [[m|en|fire]].^(Wiktionary)^(Niermeyer 1976)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A household, family.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Descendants==

+ * Italian: [[m|it|fuoco]]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Portuguese: [[m|pt|fogo]]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Romanian: [[m|ro|foc]]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Catalan: [[m|ca|foc]]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Occitan: [[m|oc|fuòc]], [[m|oc|fòc]], [[m|oc|fuec]], [[m|oc|hoec]], [[m|oc|huec]]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Galician: [[m|gl|fogo]]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Sardinian: [[m|sc|fogu]], [[m|sc|focu]]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Romansh: [[m|rm|fieu]], [[m|rm|fiug]]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Friulian: [[m|fur|fûc]]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Dalmatian: [[m|dlm|fuc]]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Aromanian: [[m|rup|foc]], [[m|rup|focu]]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Old French: [[m|fro|fu]]^(Wiktionary)

+ ** Middle French: [[m|frm|feu]]^(Wiktionary)

+ *** French: [[m|fr|feu]]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Old Spanish: [[m|osp|fuego]]^(Wiktionary)

+ ** Spanish: [[m|es|fuego]]^(Wiktionary)

+ * English: [[m|en|focus]] ''(borrowed)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[focācius]]

+ * [[focārius]]

+ * [[foculus]]

+ * [[focāceus]]

+ * [[focācium]]

+ * [[īnfocō]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[foculāre]]

+ * [[en|focus]]

+ * [[en|fuel]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}