local

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   Belonging to or found in the area where you live.

   We prefer to buy local produce from nearby farms.

2. 2
   adj

   Relating to a particular town or district rather than a whole country.

   The local council decided to build a new park.

3. 3
   adj

   Affecting only one part of the body.

   The dentist gave me a local anaesthetic before the procedure.

4. 4
   noun

   A bus or train that stops at every station.

   The local seemed to take forever to reach the city.

Common collocations

• local park Adjective + noun
• local restaurant Adjective + noun
• local shop Adjective + noun
• local store Adjective + noun
• local area Adjective + noun
• local bar Adjective + noun
• local bus Adjective + noun
• local church Adjective + noun
• local club Adjective + noun
• local government Adjective + noun
• local police Adjective + noun
• local station Adjective + noun

From Middle English local, from Late Latin locālis (“belonging to a place”), possibly also via Old French local; ultimately from Latin locus (“a place”). The ring-theoretic senses derive from Krull, who first referred to Noetherian commutative rings with a unique maximal ideal as "Stellenring" (Stellen (“place”) + ring) in 1938. The term was inspired by algebraic geometry, where local rings encode information about the behavior of curves (surfaces, etc.) at points; hence, describe "local" behavior.

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