locate

[loh-keyt, loh-keyt]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR locate ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), lo·cat·ed, lo·cat·ing.

to identify or discover the place or location of: to locate the bullet wound.

to set, fix, or establish in a position, situation, or locality; place; settle: to locate our European office in Paris.

to assign or ascribe a particular location to (something), as by knowledge or opinion: Some scholars locate the Garden of Eden in Babylonia.

to survey and enter a claim to a tract of land; take possession of land.

verb (used without object), lo·cat·ed, lo·cat·ing.

to establish one's business or residence in a place; settle.

Origin of locate

1645–55, Americanism; < Latin locātus, past participle of locāre to put in a given position, place; see locus, -ate¹

Related formslo·cat·a·ble, adjectivein·ter·lo·cate, verb (used with object), in·ter·lo·cat·ed, in·ter·lo·cat·ing.pre·lo·cate, verb, pre·lo·cat·ed, pre·lo·cat·ing.self-lo·cat·ing, adjectiveun·lo·cat·ed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for locate

unearth, detect, pinpoint, spot, discover, station, strike, uncover, establish, reside, set, situate, park, stand, put, inhabit, read, position, place, determine

Examples from the Web for locate

Contemporary Examples of locate

They recorded 10,549 graves on or near the railway in 144 cemeteries, failing to locate only 52 graves.
Riding Thailand’s WWII Death Railway
Liza Foreman
December 21, 2014
Nolte could not locate a “Barry” that fit the details listed in Dunham's essay.
The Right's Rape Trolls vs. Lena Dunham
Emily Shire
December 10, 2014
He became determined to locate other victims who would testify to abuses that could put Lebovits behind bars.
The Orthodox Sex Abuse Crackdown That Wasn’t
Emily Shire
October 7, 2014
By June, the school finally responded, though only with notification of fees for staff to locate and photocopy the documents.
Is UMass-Amherst Biased Against Male Students in Title IX Assault Cases?
Emily Shire
August 18, 2014
Ever since, they have been run in circles as they try to locate Osman.
Hundreds Disappear in Gaza
Jesse Rosenfeld
August 11, 2014

Historical Examples of locate

At a place which I cannot locate our German conductors were exchanged for French conductors.
My Double Life
Sarah Bernhardt
He tensed, straining his ears for any movement that might locate the hidden foe.
Slaves of Mercury
Nat Schachner
In the meantime our present work must be to endeavor to locate their cache.
The Law-Breakers
Ridgwell Cullum
Its use will help to locate the plant in hand in the genus to which it belongs.
The Mushroom, Edible and Otherwise
M. E. Hard
There was a change somewhere, and he was trying to locate it.
The Education of Eric Lane
Stephen McKenna

British Dictionary definitions for locate

locate

verb

(tr) to discover the position, situation, or whereabouts of; find

(tr; often passive) to situate or placelocated on the edge of the city

(intr) to become established or settled

Derived Formslocatable, adjectivelocater, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for locate

1650s, "to establish oneself in a place, settle," from Latin locatus, past participle of locare "to place, put, set, dispose, arrange," from locus "a place" (see locus). Sense of "mark the limits of a place" (especially a land grant) is attested from 1739 in American English; this developed to "establish (something) in a place" (1807) and "to find out the place of" (1882, American English). Related: Located; locating.