焦点
しょうてん · shouten · JLPT N2 · noun
focus
🎯 焦 = scorched/burnt, 点 = dot: a dot burned sharp by focused light
焦 means burnt or charred; 点 means dot or point. Focused sunlight through a lens burns one tiny dot, which is why 焦点 means focus.
焦 — bird 隹 over fire 灬
焦 is an associative compound showing a short-tailed bird (隹) above fire (灬), depicting roasting a bird until scorched. The original sense was 'burnt' or 'charred,' which extended to 'scorched, dried out,' and metaphorically to 'anxious, worried' (as in 焦急).
点 — fire radical 灬 + 占 (zhān, phonetic)
Originally written 點, a semantic-phonetic compound: 黑 (black) gave the meaning 'small black mark or dot' while 占 supplied the sound. It first referred to ink spots, then extended to 'point, drop, a little,' and verbs like 'to mark' or 'to light (a fire),' reflected in the simplified form's 灬 (fire) component.