What does concentrate mean?
Concentrate is both a verb and a noun with a shared underlying idea: bringing things toward a single point. As a verb, it most commonly means to focus one's attention or mental energy on a task, as in 'I can't concentrate with all this noise'. It can also describe gathering people, resources, or activity into one location, so that power, wealth, or industry may be said to be 'concentrated' somewhere. A third sense applies to substances: when liquid is removed, as with orange juice or soup, what remains is a stronger, denser product. Used as a noun, a concentrate refers precisely to such a condensed preparation — orange juice concentrate being the most familiar household example. The word carries no strong emotional connotation; it is neutral, practical, and equally at home in casual conversation, business writing, and technical contexts. Its Latin root, meaning 'to bring to a common centre', gives it an elegant precision that makes it useful whenever focus, density, or accumulation is at issue.
To direct all one's attention or effort toward a particular task or object; also, to gather or cause to gather in one place, or to make a substance more dense by removing water.
"He tried to concentrate on the lecture despite the noise outside."
A concentrated form of a substance, especially food or drink, produced by removing water or another diluting agent.
"Add two tablespoons of tomato concentrate to the sauce."
Often uncountable when referring to a generic substance; countable when specifying types or quantities.
Used mainly in technical or commercial contexts to refer to multiple types or batches of concentrated substances, e.g. fruit concentrates or mineral concentrates.
"The factory produces a range of fruit concentrates for export."
The word 'concentrate' literally means 'to bring to a common center' — from Latin 'centrum', the very point everything pivots around.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of concentrate
Concentrate derives from the Latin 'con-' (together) combined with 'centrum' (centre), itself borrowed from Greek 'kentron' meaning a sharp point or pivot. The word entered English in the early 17th century, initially used in the literal sense of bringing things toward a common centre before extending to mental focus and to the condensing of liquids. It shares its root with related English words such as 'centre', 'central', and 'eccentric', all tracing back to that same Greek notion of a fixed point around which things turn.
Related word forms
How concentrate is actually used
As a verb, 'concentrate' is neutral in register and works in both everyday speech ('I can't concentrate') and formal writing. In scientific and commercial contexts it often refers to physical condensation of substances. The noun form is typically uncountable when referring generically to juice or chemical preparations.
Easily confused with concentrate
'Concentrate' is the verb (to focus) or the noun for a condensed substance, while 'concentration' is the noun meaning the act or state of focusing attention, or in chemistry the amount of a substance in a given volume.