locality
Americannoun
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localities
plural
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a place, spot, or district, with or without reference to things or persons in it or to occurrences there.
They moved to another locality.
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the state or fact of being local or having a location.
the locality that every material object must have.
noun
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a neighbourhood or area
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the site or scene of an event
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the fact or condition of having a location or position in space
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of locality
From the Late Latin word locālitās, dating back to 1620–30. See local, -ity
Explanation
Use the noun locality when you need an official-sounding way to say "area" or "region." For example, you might say, "I am so pleased to finally have a doughnut shop in my locality." You're most likely to come across the word locality in a news story or business report. It's a formal way to talk about a neighborhood or a section of town. The mayor might make a speech about crime in a particular locality, or the prevalence of potholes in another locality. The word has been in use since the 1700's, from the Latin word localis, "relating to or belonging to a place."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“That has to be local to where the service is being provided, because people want language skills, people want locality, people want you in their office,” says Krishna.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
"This enabled us to get enough specific locality information to prepare a Fossil Record Form and to scientifically catalogue the fossil," Daphne says.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 12, 2026
There isn’t anywhere else that one can walk into and immediately satisfy the social instinct among a convivial and refreshingly diverse clientele in what is becoming an increasingly homogenized locality.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 26, 2026
There’s a value in locality, too; showing now, for example, not just what country the beans are from, but also what farm they’re grown on and what grade they are.
From Slate ● Dec. 22, 2025
The Professor had evidently noted the road we were to go, for he went on unhesitatingly; but, as for me, I was in quite a mixup as to locality.
From "Dracula" by Bram Stoker
The appellation Champagne includes 319 localities to the east of Paris where the soil and climatic conditions were suited to producing the three varieties of grapes used in making the sparkling wine.
From Barron's ● Oct. 21, 2026
“And again, where the rubber meets the road” for this issue is at the level of localities, states and regional transmission organizations, he added.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 21, 2026
Shanmugam characterized Boulder’s case as “unprecedented,” and argued that the Constitution does not permit individual localities to “use state law to regulate global conduct.”
From Slate ● Oct. 5, 2026
As another, he said the new rules could penalize immigrant families for accessing basic, preventative healthcare that actually helps control the broader public cost of illness to localities and states.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026
The trouble is that most of these remains are not from wet, coastal Alexandria or even the southern capital of Ptolemais, but instead from minor localities like Tebtunis, El-Hiba, and Oxyrhynchus.
From "Circumference" by Nicholas Nicastro
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
