locus classicus

American  

[loh-koos klahs-si-koos, loh-kuhs klas-i-kuhs] / ˈloʊ kʊs ˈklɑs sɪˌkʊs, ˈloʊ kəs ˈklæs ɪ kəs /

noun

Latin.

plural

loci classici

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

---

locus classicus British  

/ ˈklæsɪkəs /

noun

1. an authoritative and often quoted passage from a standard work

---

Etymology

Origin of locus classicus

Latin: classical place

Example Sentences

Samuel R. Delany’s “Dhalgren” is perhaps the most famous recent example, but the locus classicus remains David Lindsay’s “A Voyage to Arcturus.”

From Washington Post • Nov. 16, 2021

Saval ties his essay to “Bartleby, the Scrivener,” Herman Melville’s locus classicus of clerical work.

From The New Yorker • Jul. 27, 2016

The locus classicus of this method was a recording of a blunt call between State Department official Toria Nuland and the American ambassador to Kiev, Geoffrey Pyatt.

From Slate • Jul. 4, 2016

Perhaps the locus classicus is the 1977 movie Looking for Mr Goodbar, written and directed by Richard Brooks.

From The Guardian • Nov. 17, 2015

The locus classicus in regard to this personage is in Lord Cockburn’s “Memorials of his Time.”

From The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. XIX (of 25) The Ebb-Tide; Weir of Hermiston by Stevenson, Robert Louis