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concentrate

/ˈkɑːnsntreɪt//ˈkɒnsntreɪt/·verb, noun
to bring together in one place; to give full attention; to make denser
Fig. 1 — I hold the round glass between the sun and the table, and the wide, mild light falling on it is bent to a single dot.
01Definition

To concentrate is to gather toward one centre until it is strong — from the Latin com- 'together' and centrum 'centre'. Scattered forces concentrate at a border; a reader concentrates on a page, pulling stray attention to one point; boiling concentrates a juice by driving off its water. As a noun, a concentrate is what is left when the water is gone: the same substance, no longer spread thin. To consolidate holdings is close, but concentrate keeps the sense of intensity growing as things gather.

02In use
  • iThe general concentrated his forces at the single weak point in the wall.
  • iiWith the music off, she could finally concentrate on the difficult proof.
  • iiiBoiling the sauce concentrates its flavour as the water escapes as steam.
03Collocations
  • concentrate on
  • concentrate your efforts
  • concentrate forces
  • a high concentration
  • orange juice concentrate

Family concentration (noun) · concentrated (adjective) · concentrate (noun)

04Relations

=focus, consolidate, gather, condense, intensify

≠disperse, scatter, dilute

05Compared
PairThe difference
concentrate vs amalgamatemerge organizations into one whole → amalgamate; gather things to a centre to intensify, thicken or focus → concentrate.
concentrate vs blendmix things into one uniform whole → blend; gather things to a centre to intensify, thicken or focus → concentrate.
concentrate vs coalesceseparate things grow together into one whole → coalesce; gather things to a centre to intensify, thicken or focus → concentrate.
concentrate vs coincidetwo independent things share the same point or time → coincide; gather things to a centre to intensify, thicken or focus → concentrate.
concentrate vs convergegather things densely into one point → concentrate; separate paths meeting at a point → converge.

Also compared with disperse, dissipate, diverge, divide, fuse, intersect, meet, merge, radiate, scatter, separate, split

06TOEFL & IELTS

Two senses to keep apart: concentrate on something = fix your attention on it (the default preposition is on, not in), and to concentrate a substance = make it denser by removing water. The noun concentration does double duty — the mental state and the chemistry sense (a high concentration of salt). Unusually for a noun/verb pair, concentrate does not shift its stress: both hit the first syllable, and the only US/UK difference is the first vowel, /ɑː/ vs /ɒ/.

07Asked
Is it 'concentrate on' or 'concentrate in'?
On is the default by far — you concentrate on a task, on your breathing, on the road. Concentrate in is narrower: in American college English 'to concentrate in economics' means to major in it, and otherwise 'in' usually belongs to a place, not the verb. Learners overuse 'in'; when the meaning is 'give attention to', it is almost always on.
What does 'from concentrate' mean on a juice carton?
It uses the noun a concentrate — juice boiled down so the water is removed, making it dense and easy to ship; 'from concentrate' means water was later added back. 'Not from concentrate' skips that round trip. It is the scene above in a carton: the same juice, pulled together by removing what spread it thin, then restored.
What is the difference between concentrate and focus?
They overlap, with a nuance: focus is choosing and directing where attention goes, and can be momentary; concentrate is sustaining hard mental effort over time while shutting distractions out. You focus a camera in an instant, but you concentrate on a proof for an hour. Both take on — focus on, concentrate on.
What is the difference between the noun and the verb 'concentrate'?
The verb (stress the same, first syllable) means to focus attention or to make denser. The noun a concentrate is the dense substance itself — tomato concentrate, protein concentrate. And note the fuller noun concentration has two lives: the mental state, and the chemistry measure of how much of a substance sits in a mixture.
How do you pronounce concentrate?
CON-cen-trate — stress firmly on the first syllable. Unlike record or present, concentrate does not shift its stress between noun and verb; both forms sound the same. The only real difference is across accents: American /ˈkɑːnsntreɪt/ opens with the 'ah' vowel, British /ˈkɒnsntreɪt/ with a rounder 'o'.
What does 'concentrated' mean in chemistry?
A concentrated solution has a lot of dissolved substance in a small amount of liquid — strong, with a high concentration. Its opposite is dilute, where the same substance is thinly spread through much more liquid. Concentrating a solution (by boiling off water) and diluting it (by adding water) are the two directions the word turns.