locate

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lo·cate / ˈlōˌkāt; lōˈkāt/ • v. [tr.] discover the exact place or position of: engineers were working to locate the fault. ∎  (usu. be located) situate in a particular place: these popular apartments are centrally located. ∎  place within a particular context: they locate their policies in terms of wealth creation. ∎  [intr.] establish oneself or one's business in a specified place: his marketing strategy has been to locate in small towns.DERIVATIVES: lo·cat·a·ble / -ˌkātəbəl; lōˈkāt-/ adj.ORIGIN: early 16th cent.: from Latin locat- ‘placed,’ from the verb locare, from locus ‘place.’ The original sense was as a legal term meaning ‘rent out,’ later (late 16th cent.) ‘assign to a particular place,’ then ‘establish in a place.’ The sense ‘discover the exact position of’ dates from the late 19th cent.

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