local English · revision 2015

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1392|origins=la locus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

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

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|localle]],^(MW Collegiate)^(Klein 1966) [[bor|la-lat|locālis|t=pertaining to a place]], partly through [[fro|local]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(SOED 2002) from [[la|locus|t=place, spot]],^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000) earlier [[m|la|stlocus]].^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Pertaining to position, and in medicine “confined to one part of the body”: 1392.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In theology ''local'' meant “relating to position in space” from 1485.^(HTOED) The sense “limited to a particular place” is from about 1500,^(Etymonline) and the application to a small district and its inhabitants from the late 17th century.^(Cresswell 2021) ''Local colour'' was a painters' term in 1721, and came to mean anything picturesque about 1900;^(Etymonline) ''local option'' (1868) was a temperance term for a community's right to ban the sale of liquor.^(Etymonline) The noun meant a medicine applied to one part of the body in the early 15th century.^(Etymonline) It came to mean an inhabitant of a place in 1824 or 1825,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) a newspaper item about local matters in 1869, a stopping train in 1879, a branch of a trade union in 1888, and a neighbourhood pub in 1934.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) ''Localize'' (1792) is first found in Mary Wollstonecraft.^(Barnhart 1988) ''Locale'' is the French noun ''local'' with an ''e'' added to show the change in pronunciation, as in ''morale''.^(Cresswell 2021)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1392 – adjective, of position; of one part of the body.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * early 15th century – noun, a local remedy.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1485 – of position in space.^(HTOED)

+ * c. 1500 – limited to a particular place.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1721 – ''local colour''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1792 – ''localize'' (Wollstonecraft).^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1824 – noun, a local inhabitant.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1879 – a local train.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1888 – a union branch.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1934 – the local pub.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Belonging to or typical of a particular place.^(AHD)^(HTOED)

+ # Of a town or district rather than a larger area: ''local government''.^(AHD)

+ # Not general or widespread.^(AHD)

+ # ''(medicine)'' Affecting one part of the body: ''a local [[anaesthetic]]''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # Of a train or bus, stopping at all or most stations; not [[express]].^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A person who lives in a particular place.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # A local train or bus.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # A local branch of an organization, especially a [[trade union]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(British)'' A [[pub]] near one's home.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[locally]]

+ * [[localness]]

+ * [[localism]]

+ * [[locality]]

+ * [[localize]]

+ * [[interlocal]]

+ * [[localise]]

+ * [[localite]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[locate]]

+ * [[location]]

+ * [[locative]]

+ * [[locator]]

+ * [[locus]]

+ * [[locale]]

+ * [[allocate]]

+ * [[dislocate]]

+ * [[locomotive]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}