local [LME] Local is from Latin locus ‘place’. At first used to mean ‘concerned with place or position’, it was applied more specifically to a small area with respect to its inhabitants from the late 17th century. Locals described the inhabitants themselves from the mid 19th century. The same root is found in allocation [LME] from allocare ‘allot’, dislocation [LME] ‘displacement’, locate [E16th], locomotive [E17th], something that could move its place, and locale [L18th]. This is from French local, the same as the English word, but with an ‘e’ added to show the change in pronunciation (compare *moral and morale).