locus

lo·cus | \ ˈlō-kəs

plural loci\ ˈlō-ˌsī

, -ˌkī , -ˌkē \

Definition of locus

1a : 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

Synonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about locus

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Examples of locus in a Sentence

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

Recent Examples on the Web An app that becomes the locus for digital transactions is sure to keep a user’s attention and to spin off valuable data. — John Detrixhe, Quartz, "As Denmark turns away from cash, a payment app has more likes than Facebook," 9 Oct. 2019 The home garage as a locus of scrappy invention is also discussed in Olivia Erlanger and Luis Ortega Govela’s 2018 book, titled Garage. — Anne Quito, Quartz at Work, "The home garage is the design template for many start-up offices," 30 Sep. 2019 Get our daily newsletter With the locus of Christianity moving southward, this troubled continent represents the faith’s greatest hope. — The Economist, "Why Pope Francis struggles in Africa," 7 Sep. 2019 The mood was peaceful, save for a single locus of agitation. — Dan Zak, Washington Post, "Evening in America: What it felt like on Trump’s 4th of July," 5 July 2019 Kid Gloves The YouTube case presents a unique locus for those frustrations. — Wired, "Fines Alone Aren't Enough to Slow Down Big Tech," 4 Sep. 2019 Established in 1777 as the main supplier of weaponry for the Continental Army, the armory evolved into the principal locus of mechanical innovation in the United States. — Win Mccormack, The New Republic, "The Green New Deal: A Capitalist Plot (Part 2)," 15 Aug. 2019 The locus of resistance is expected to be in the Kashmir valley, home to about 7 million people, where a small but dogged insurgency and a lot of resentment exist. — Jeffrey Gettleman And, BostonGlobe.com, "As Modi addresses India, protests flare in Kashmir," 8 Aug. 2019 There is no way for such a locus to exist only in opposing octants of a cube. — Quanta Magazine, "Solution: ‘The Slippery Math of Causation’," 29 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'locus.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.