circle of confusion

noun Photography.

a circular spot on a film, resulting from the degree to which a pencil of light reflected from the field of view is focused in front of or behind the film, or from aberration of the lens, or from both.

Origin of circle of confusion

First recorded in 1905–10

Words nearby circle of confusion

circinus, circle, circle absorption anesthesia, circle graph, circle jerk, circle of confusion, circle of convergence, circle of curvature, circle of declination, circle of least confusion, circle of willis