focus

1 a thing or place that is of greatest importance to an activity or interest in the 19th century Paris was the focus of the art world Synonyms axis, base, capital, central, core, cynosure, epicenter, eye, center, ground zero, heart, hub, locus, mecca, navel, nerve center, nexus, nucleus, omphalos, seatRelated Words headquarters; happy hunting ground, hive, hotbed, hot spot, playground, playland; kernel, nub, pith; deep, thick; essence, quintessence, soul; attraction, lodestone (also loadstone), magnet, polestar

2 a guiding or motivating purpose or principle a wildlife conservation organization that seems to have lost its focus Synonyms cynosure, direction, compass, lodestar (also loadstar), polestarRelated Words benchmark, criterion, grade, mark, measure, par, standard, touchstone, yardstick; aim, ambition, aspiration, dream, goal, intention, object, objective, purpose, target