Focusses

/ˈfoʊkəsɪz/ verb

Definition

British spelling variant of 'focuses'; third person singular present tense of 'focus', meaning to concentrate or direct attention.

Etymology

British English spelling with doubled 's' before the '-es' ending. The doubling follows British conventions for short verbs (where American English simplified this rule after Noah Webster).

Kelly Says

This spelling difference—'focuses' vs 'focusses'—happened because British English kept the doubling rule from Latin (focus/focusses) while American English streamlined it (focus/focuses) during the 1800s standardization.

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