locate English · revision 15138

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1652|origins=la locus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ləʊˈkeɪt/, US /ˈloʊ.keɪt/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|locātus]], the past participle of [[m|la|locō|t=to place, put, arrange]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(NODE 1998) from [[m|la|locus|t=a place]] (see [[locus]]), from an older [[m|la|stlocus]], of uncertain origin.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To establish oneself in a place, to settle: 1652 in the OED and Merriam-Webster, the 1650s in Etymonline.^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024)^(Etymonline) The NODE gives an early 16th-century legal sense, to let out on hire.^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ To survey and mark the limits of land is from 1739, first in American land surveys.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) To fix or establish in a place is from 1807,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and to place someone in an office from 1769.^(OED 1989) The sense to find the exact place of is first recorded in American English, in Bret Harte's Flip (1882).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) Location is from 1592, in civil and Scots law, for leasing.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1652 – to settle.^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1739 – to mark the limits of land (US).^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1807 – to fix in a place.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1816 – to allocate.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1882 – to find the position of (US).^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To find the position or whereabouts of; to discover.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To determine or specify the position or limits of.^(AHD)

+ # To place or situate, often in the passive: ''located on the edge of the city''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To settle or become established in a place.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[locatable]]

+ * [[locater]]

+ * [[unlocated]]

+ * [[dislocate]]

+ * [[interlocate]]

+ * [[mislocate]]

+ * [[prelocate]]

+ * [[relocate]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[allocate]]

+ * [[allocation]]

+ * [[collocate]]

+ * [[couch]]

+ * [[local]]

+ * [[locator]]

+ * [[locus]]

+ * [[locality]]

+ * [[localize]]

+ * [[location]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}