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bifocals. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
bifocals, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
bifocals in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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English
Etymology
From bi- + focal (see focus), coined in 1824 by John Isaac Hawkins, inventor of trifocals. When the concept of bifocals was originally conceived by Benjamin Franklin, he called them double spectacles.
Noun
bifocals pl (plural only)
- Spectacles that have corrective lenses of two different powers; used by people who need both distance and reading glasses.
2002, Zadie Smith, The Autograph Man, Penguin Books (2003), page 116:He unfolded a pair of bifocals and thrust them as far up the bridge of his nose as possible.
Derived terms
Translations
spectacles with two different powers