LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · masculinesecond declension

focus

focus m (genitive focī)
Classical[ˈfɔ.kʊs]Ecclesiastical[ˈfɔː.kus]
Mille Verba core vocabulary

Meaning

  1. masculinefireplace; hearth
  2. masculinefirepan; coal pan; brazier
  3. masculinealtar
  4. figurativelymasculinehouse; family
  5. Late Latinmasculinefire

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

locus in culīnā, ubi ignis ārdet; super focum cibus coquitur.
focus -ī m — in Mille Verba, Domus et Familia
locus in domō, ubi ignis ardet
focus -ī (m) — in Metamorphoses I, ch. 16

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativefocusfocī
focora
genitivefocīfocōrum
dativefocōfocīs
accusativefocumfocōs
focora
ablativefocōfocīs
vocativefocefocī
locativefocī—

Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book

pro aris et focis pugnare, certare, dimicare
to fight for hearth and home.

fŏcus, i, m. root bha-, to be bright, Gr. φα- (cf. for, fari), strengthened, fac-, fax, facies, etc., Corss. Ausspr. 1, 423, who refers even facio to this root.
I. A fire-place, hearth (syn.: clibanus, furnus, fornax, caminus): Varro focos ait dictos, quod foveat ignes, nam ignis ipsa flamma est: quicquid autem ignem fovet, focus vocatur, seu ara sit seu quid aliud, in quo ignis fovetur, Varr. ap. Isid. Orig. 20, 10, 1: at focus a flammis, et quod fovet omnia, dictus, Ov. F. 6, 301; Paul. ex Fest. p. 85 Müll.; Serv. Verg. A. 12, 118; Plaut. Aul. prol. 7; Plin. 19, 1, 4, § 19: dum meus assiduo luceat igne focus, Tib. 1, 1, 6: jam dudum splendet focus, Hor. Ep. 1, 5, 7: ligna super foco Large reponens, id. C. 1, 9, 5: Curio ad focum sedenti magnum auri pondus Samnites, cum attulissent, Cic. de Sen. 16, 55; cf. id. Fragm. ap. Non. 522, 28 (Rep. 3, 28 ed. Mos.); 68, 17: ad focum angues nundinari solent, Cic. Div. 2, 31, 66: exstruere lignis focum, to pile on wood, Hor. Epod. 2, 43.— Poet. of a funeral-pile, Verg. A. 11, 212; of an altar, Prop. 2, 19 (3, 12), 14; 4, 5, 64 (5, 5, 66 M.); Tib. 1, 2, 82; Ov. M. 4, 753 al.—On the hearths of Roman houses were placed, in little niches, the household gods (Lares), and for them a fire was kept up: haec imponentur in foco nostro Lari, Plaut. Aul. 2, 8, 16; cf.: focus Larium, quo familia convenit, Plin. 28, 20, 81, § 267.—Hence,
B. Transf.: focus, like our hearth, serves to denote the house or family: domi focique fac vicissim ut memineris, Ter. Eun. 4, 7, 45; cf.: nudum ejicit domo atque focis patriis disque penatibus praecipitem Sextum exturbat, Cic. Rosc. Am. 8, 23: agellus, quem tu fastidis, habitatum quinque focis, by five houses, families, Hor. Ep. 1, 14, 2.—Esp. freq.: arae et foci, pro aris et focis pugnare, to signify one's dearest possessions; v. ara. —
II. A fire-pan, coal-pan, brazier: panem in foco caldo sub testu coquito leniter, Cato, R. R. 75; 76, 2; Sen. Ep. 78 fin.

Origins

The origin is uncertain. Usually connected with Old Armenian բոց (bocʻ, “flame”). * Some connect it along with faciēs, facētus, fax to Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- (“to shine”); if so, cognate at the root level with Sanskrit भाति॑ (bhā́ti), Ancient Greek φαίνω (phaínō, “to shine”), etc. * Matasović, and Hamp before him, opt to derive from Proto-Indo-European *dʰegʷʰ- (“to burn”). Matasović believes that the -c- would have spread from the nominative of a root noun *dʰṓkʷʰ-s (< *dʰṓgʷʰ-s).

Gallo-Romance
  • Catalanfoc
  • Frenchfeufrom Old French fu
  • Englishfuelfrom Old French fu
  • Occitanfuòcfrom Old Occitan foc
  • Occitanfòcfrom Old Occitan foc
  • Occitanfuecfrom Old Occitan foc
  • Occitanhoecfrom Old Occitan foc
  • Occitanhuecfrom Old Occitan foc
  • Franco-Provençalfuè
  • Walloonfeufrom Old French fu
Elsewhere
  • Catalanfocus
  • Englishfocus
  • Englishlocofoco
  • Frenchfocus
  • GermanFokus
  • Italianfocus
  • Portuguesefoco
  • Spanishfoco
  • Dutchfocus
  • Esperantofokuso
Insular Romance
  • Sardinianfogu
  • Sardinianfocu
Ibero-Romance
  • Portuguesefogofrom Old Galician-Portuguese fogo
  • Spanishfuegofrom Old Spanish fuego
  • Aragonesefuego
  • Asturianfueu
  • Asturianfuegu
  • Asturianḥuego
  • Extremaduranhueu
  • Mirandesefuogo
  • Falafogufrom Old Galician-Portuguese fogo
  • Galicianfogofrom Old Galician-Portuguese fogo
Eastern Romance
  • Romanianfoc
  • Aromanianfoc
  • Aromanianfocu
  • Istro-Romanianfok
  • Megleno-Romanianfoc
Italo-Romance
  • Italianfuoco
  • Corsicanfocu
  • Dalmatianfuc
  • Judeo-Italianפֿוּקוֹ
  • Tarantinofuèchefrom Neapolitan fuoco
  • Sicilianfocu
North Italian
  • Emilianfûg
  • Ligurianfêugo
  • Lombardfœg
  • Lombardfœi
  • Lombardfœv
  • Piedmontesefeu
  • Piedmontesefeug
  • Romagnolfug
  • Romagnolfóg
  • Friulianfûc

In the Academy Smith's classical dictionaries

AntiquitiesFocusFocus dim. FOCULUS (ἑστία: ἐσχάρα, ἐσχάρις, dim. ἐσχάριον), a fire-place; a hearth; a brasier. The fire-place, while serving all the requirements of o…

Quick answers

What does focus mean in Latin?
focus, a noun, means “fireplace; hearth; firepan”.
What is the genitive of focus?
The genitive singular is focī. focus is masculine, second declension.
How do you pronounce focus?
In classical Latin, [ˈfɔ.kʊs]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈfɔː.kus].