locus

[loh-kuh s]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR locus ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural lo·ci [loh-sahy, -kee, -kahy] /ˈloʊ saɪ, -ki, -kaɪ/, lo·ca [loh-kuh] /ˈloʊ kə/.

a place; locality.

a center or source, as of activities or power: locus of control.

Mathematics. the set of all points, lines, or surfaces that satisfy a given requirement.

Genetics. the chromosomal position of a gene as determined by its linear order relative to the other genes on that chromosome.

Origin of locus

1525–35; < Latin; OL stlocus a place

locus classicus

[loh-koo s klahs-si-koo s; English loh-kuh s klas-i-kuh s]

noun, plural lo·ci clas·si·ci [loh-kee klahs-si-kee; English loh-sahy klas-uh-sahy, loh-kahy klas-i-kahy] /ˈloʊ ki ˈklɑs sɪˌki; English ˈloʊ saɪ ˈklæs əˌsaɪ, ˈloʊ kaɪ ˈklæs ɪˌkaɪ/. Latin.

classical source: a passage commonly cited to illustrate or explain a subject or word.

locus in quo

[loh-koo s in kwoh; English loh-kuh s in kwoh]

noun Latin.

the place in which; the very place; the scene of the event.

locus sigilli

[loh-koo s see-geel-lee; English loh-kuh s si-jil-ahy]

noun, plural lo·ci si·gil·li [loh-kee see-geel-lee; English loh-sahy si-jil-ahy, loh-kahy] /ˈloʊ ki siˈgil li; English ˈloʊ saɪ sɪˈdʒɪl aɪ, ˈloʊ kaɪ/. Latin.

See L.S.(def 3).

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

Related Words for locus

bearing, habit, strait, site, attitude, manner, pass, plight, port, mien, deportment, arrangement, state, location, emplacement, form, pose, spot, disposition, condition

Examples from the Web for locus

Contemporary Examples of locus

With Mitch McConnell soon to be in charge, look for the Senate to become the locus of attacks on campaign finance reform.
Just What We Needed: More Campaign Spending
Mark McKinnon
December 8, 2014
The 18th Street Gang was named after the locus of its birth in the Ramparts section.
The Deported L.A. Gangs Behind This Border Kid Crisis
Michael Daly
July 11, 2014
This question of accountability has interesting links with the theory of “locus of control.”
If You're Fat You've Only Got Yourself to Blame
Emma Woolf
April 15, 2014
He despised it for showing war not as an arena of bravery and honor but as a locus of dread and fear.
Did Hollywood Collaborate With Hitler? A New Book Makes Bold Claims.
Christopher Bray
September 9, 2013
At the locus of policy on peace, territory and Palestinians, the picture is worse.
Lapid Lost, Obama Distracts
Gershom Gorenberg
March 21, 2013

Historical Examples of locus

We had no "locus standi" for complaining of this change and did not complain.
Current History, A Monthly Magazine
New York Times
The result is that you have no locus standi as a resident in the house.
The Rough Road
William John Locke
The locus of the idea, of the given problem, is not the same in the two processes.
Essay on the Creative Imagination
Th. Ribot
The nursing situation is the locus of all that is known and done in nursing.
Nursing as Caring
Anne Boykin
And as I had no army with me, I had no locus standi for sending an ambassador.
The Kath Sarit Sgara
Somadeva Bhatta

British Dictionary definitions for locus

locus

noun plural loci (ˈləʊsaɪ)

(in many legal phrases) a place or area, esp the place where something occurred

maths a set of points whose location satisfies or is determined by one or more specified conditionsthe locus of points equidistant from a given point is a circle

genetics the position of a particular gene on a chromosome

Word Origin for locus

C18: Latin

locus classicus

noun plural loci classici (ˈklæsɪˌsaɪ)

an authoritative and often quoted passage from a standard work

Word Origin for locus classicus

Latin: classical place

locus sigilli

noun plural loci sigilli

the place to which the seal is affixed on legal documents, etc

Word Origin for locus sigilli

Latin

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 locus

(plural loci), 1715, "locality," from Latin locus "a place, spot, position," from Old Latin stlocus, literally "where something is placed," from PIE root *st(h)el- "to cause to stand, to place." Used by Latin writers for Greek topos. Mathematical sense by 1750.

locus in Medicine

locus

[lō′kəs]

n. pl. lo•ci (-sī′, -kē, -kī′)

A place; site.

The position that a given gene occupies on a chromosome.

locus in Science

locus

[lō′kəs]

Plural loci (lō′sī′, -kē, -kī′)

The set or configuration of all points whose coordinates satisfy a single equation or one or more algebraic conditions.

The position that a given gene occupies on a chromosome.

locus in Culture

locus

plur. loci (loh-seye, loh-keye)

In geometry, the set of all points (and only those points) that satisfy certain conditions; these points form a curve or figure. For example, the locus of all points in space one foot from a given point is a sphere having a radius of one foot and having its center at the given point. The locus of all points in a plane one foot from a given point is a circle having a radius of one foot and having its center at the given point.