Local

How to spell local

5 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce local

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does local mean?

1. adjectiveRelating to or existing in a particular nearby area or neighbourhood.
2. nounA person who lives in a particular area, or in British usage the nearby pub one regularly visits.

Local in a sentence

• adjective

  The local council approved the new parking scheme.

• noun

  The tourists asked a local for directions to the harbour.

• adjective

  She shops at the local market every Saturday morning.

• noun

  He stopped at his local for a pint after work.

Where does local come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes from the Latin locus, meaning simply 'a place' or 'a spot'. From locus the Late Latin adjective localis was formed, meaning 'belonging to a place' or 'of a particular spot'. English took the word in through Old French local during the late 1300s, at first in technical and legal senses about where something physically sits. Over the centuries the everyday meaning settled into 'relating to a nearby area or neighbourhood'. The same locus root underlies a whole family of familiar words, including 'location', 'locate', and 'locale', and remembering that loc means 'place' is a tidy way to keep the spelling straight.

How the word is built

• loc (from Latin locus: place)
• -al (adjective suffix)