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locus - 10 dictionary results

lo⋅cus

  [loh-kuhs]
Use locus in a Sentence
–noun, plural -ci  [-sahy, -kee, -kahy] , -ca  [-kuh] .
1. a place; locality.
2. a center or source, as of activities or power: locus of control.
3. Mathematics. the set of all points, lines, or surfaces that satisfy a given requirement.
4. Genetics. the chromosomal position of a gene as determined by its linear order relative to the other genes on that chromosome.
Origin:
1525–35; < L; OL stlocus a place
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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lo·cus   (lō'kəs)   
n.   pl. lo·ci (-sī', -kē, -kī')
  1. A locality; a place.
  2. A center or focus of great activity or intense concentration: "the cunning exploitation of loci of power; the insulation from normal American society" (Clifton Fadiman).
  3. Mathematics The set or configuration of all points whose coordinates satisfy a single equation or one or more algebraic conditions.
  4. The position that a given gene occupies on a chromosome.

[Latin.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Locus

Lo"cus\, n.; pl. Loci, & Loca. [L., place. Cf. Allow, Couch, Lieu, Local.]

1. A place; a locality.

2. (Math.) The line traced by a point which varies its position according to some determinate law; the surface described by a point or line that moves according to a given law.

Plane locus, a locus that is a straight line, or a circle.

Solid locus, a locus that is one of the conic sections.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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locus

plur. loci (loh-seye, loh-keye)

In geometry, the set of all points (and only those points) that satisfy certain conditions; these points form a curve or figure. For example, the locus of all points in space one foot from a given point is a sphere having a radius of one foot and having its center at the given point. The locus of all points in a plane one foot from a given point is a circle having a radius of one foot and having its center at the given point.

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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locus 
(pl. loci), 1715, "locality," from L. locus "place," from O.Latin stlocus, lit. "where something is placed," from PIE base *st(h)el- "to cause to stand, to place." Used by L. writers for Gk. topos.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: lo·cus
Pronunciation: 'lO-k&s
Function: noun
: the place connected with a particular event having legal significance
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Main Entry: lo·cus
Pronunciation: 'lO-k&s
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural lo·ci /'lO-"sI, -"kI also -"kE/
1 : a place or site of an event, activity, or thing locus of all axon terminals relates to the retinal locus of their cells of origin —R. W.Guillery et al>
2 : the position in a chromosome of a particular gene or allele
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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locus lo·cus (lō'kəs)
n. pl. lo·ci (-sī', -kē, -kī')

  1. A place; site.
  2. The position that a given gene occupies on a chromosome.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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locus   (lō'kəs)  Pronunciation Key 
Plural loci (lō'sī', -kē, -kī')
  1. The set or configuration of all points whose coordinates satisfy a single equation or one or more algebraic conditions.
  2. The position that a given gene occupies on a chromosome.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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Locus
A distributed system project supporting transparent access to data through a network-wide file system.

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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