Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Having the same focus or foci. Used of a lens.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A figure having the same focus as another.
  • In mathematics, having the same focus: as, confocal quadrics; confocal conies.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective (Math.) Having the same foci.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective optics (mathematics) Having the same foci

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

con- +‎ focal

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Examples

  • The principal techniques in cell biologists' toolboxes are known as confocal and wide-field microscopy.

    BBC News - Home 2011

  • However, both fused and non-fused receptors translocated to the same endocytic compartment, as determined by dual-label confocal analysis of cells co-expressing both proteins and transferrin co-localization.

    BioMed Central - Latest articles Enrico M Batassa Maria Grazia Di Certo 2008

  • We looked at thin rock slices and fresh surfaces using a mapping technique called confocal Raman imaging spectroscopy.

    PhysOrg.com - latest science and technology news stories 2010

  • We looked at thin rock slices and fresh surfaces using a mapping technique called confocal Raman imaging spectroscopy.

    PhysOrg.com - latest science and technology news stories 2010

  • We looked at thin rock slices and fresh surfaces using a mapping technique called confocal Raman imaging spectroscopy.

    PhysOrg.com - latest science and technology news stories 2010

  • The scientists will study the building blocks of these synapses - specialized proteins - using genetics, molecular biology and a technique known as confocal microscopy.

    University of Utah - UNews RSS Feed 2010

  • We looked at thin rock slices and fresh surfaces using a mapping technique called confocal Raman imaging spectroscopy.

    EurekAlert! - Breaking News 2010

  • To find out the cause of discomfort like hers, gastroenterologists now have a new technology called confocal laser endomicroscopy (CLE).

    unknown title 2009

  • To find out the cause of discomfort like hers, gastroenterologists now have a new technology called confocal laser endomicroscopy (CLE).

    unknown title 2009

  • To reconstruct the webs the scientists focused through the amber at 40 different positions, tracing it through the layers and then splicing it together again using a computer technique called confocal microscopy.

    Home | Mail Online 2009

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  • "Thus, on occasion, a sort of parabola, not fully confocal in form. . ." Gilbert Adair translation of Georges Perec's La Disparition

    August 11, 2010