focal
/ˈfəʊk(ə)l
/adjective
1Relating to the centre or most important part: the focal symbol of sovereignty is the crown...
- But we do intend to put something back that we can all be proud of to make a new focal centre of the village again.
- The third plot while without a central focal character is the most important thread: the coming of the Second Boxer Rebellion in China.
- Dubey cuts the figures at the edges and at unusual angles to create focal interest in the compositions.
2 Optics Relating to the focus of a lens.Huygens discovered the law of refraction to derive the focal distances of lenses....
- Residual longitudinal chromatic aberration introduces a focal shift for any wavelength variation.
- There are now Bifocal lenses, a type of contact lens design that includes two focal areas: one for near, one for distance.
3(Of a disease or medical condition) occurring in one particular site in the body.The laryngeal inlet showed chronic inflammatory changes and the tongue showed focal congestion and mild inflammatory changes....
- If CAV is present, then options such as coronary interventions may be used, depending on whether focal disease is present.
- In 141 autopsies of people without focal neurological disease, 57 probably had Alzheimer's disease.
Derivatives
focally
- Grossly, the surgical specimen consisted of a 4.0 x 3.5 X 3.2-cm irregular, firm, tan, focally hemorrhagic mass.
- Histologically, the blastomous tumor cells were present in diffuse sheets, which focally formed malignant cartilage.
- The mitotic activity was focally brisk, with an average of 8 to 10 mitoses per highpower field in these areas.
Origin
Late 17th century: from modern Latin focalis, from Latin focus, or directly from focus.