locus

lo·cus

noun \ˈlō-kəs\

plural lo·ci\ˈlō-ˌsī, -ˌkī, -ˌkē\

Definition of LOCUS

1

a : the place where something is situated or occurs : site, location <was the culture of medicine in the beginning dispersed from a single focus or did it arise in several loci? — S. C. Harvey> b : a center of activity, attention, or concentration <in democracy the locus of power is in the people — H. G. Rickover>

2

: the set of all points whose location is determined by stated conditions

3

: the position in a chromosome of a particular gene or allele

Examples of LOCUS

1. The area became a locus of resistance to the government.
2. <an area of the Southwest that has been the locus of a number of New Agey movements>

Origin of LOCUS

Latin — more at stall

First Known Use: 1715

Related to LOCUS

Synonyms: axis, base, capital, central, core, cynosure, epicenter, eye, focus, ground zero, heart, hub, center, mecca, navel, nerve center, nexus, nucleus, omphalos, seat

Related Words: headquarters; happy hunting ground, hive, hotbed, hot spot, playground, playland; kernel, nub, pith; deep, thick; essence, quintessence, soul; attraction, lodestone (also loadstone), magnet, polestar

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Other Mathematics and Statistics Terms

abscissa, denominator, divisor, equilateral, exponent, hypotenuse, logarithm, oblique, radii, rhomb

Rhymes with LOCUS

crocus, focus, hocus