Etymologically
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localis

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ɫɔˈkaː.lɪs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [loˈkaː.lis][1]

Forms

locālis (neuter locāle, adverb locāliter); third-declension two-termination adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin locus (“place”) + -ālis.[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Terentius Scaurus quotes Varro for adverbium locale, an adverb of place, and the TLL says it is perhaps found in Varro and certainly from Scaurus, Caper, Ulpian and Tertullian on.[4][3] Köbler dates Varro 116–27 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

In grammar it meant relating to place, as the adverbs of place in Charisius and Servius.[2][6][4] Lewis & Short call it late Latin in the general sense “of a place, local”, as Tertullian's contrast of the local and the universal and Ammianus' local hardships.[6][7] Firmicus Maternus uses the neuter plural localia for localities, and the adverb localiter means “locally”.[4][6]

In medieval Latin it meant restricted to a place, of rules and of officials in a locality, and as a noun a building plot.[8][9] It survives in Spanish lugar and Portuguese lugar “place”.[1] English local is recorded in the late 14th century, first in medicine of what is confined to one part of the body.[10]

Timeline

  • 116–27 BC – Varro speaks of an adverbium locale.[4][5]
  • c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian uses it of what is local.[6][5]
  • c. 390 AD – Ammianus uses it of local hardships.[6][5]
  • late 14th century – English local is recorded.[10]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. (grammar) Relating to place, adverbia localia, adverbs of place.[2][6]
  2. (Late Latin) Of a place, local.[6][1]

Noun

  1. (Medieval Latin) A building plot.[9][5]

Word family

  • illocalis
  • localitas

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  8. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
  9. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com