locus
/ˈləʊkəs
/noun (plural loci /ˈləʊsʌɪ/ /ˈləʊkʌɪ/ /ˈləʊkiː/)
1 technical A particular position or place where something occurs or is situated: it is impossible to specify the exact locus in the brain of these neural events...
- It all revolved around the idea that the body is a locus of memory, and it brought that idea into so many dimensions.
- He is too quick to conclude that the Web, as a locus for and medium of art, is a failure.
- It seems to understand that the locus of failure isn't external and partial.
1.1The effective or perceived location of something abstract: the real locus of power is the informal council...
- Although the Roman government was intact, the real locus of power in ancient Rome was the family.
- For a peaceful world that promotes international democracy, the locus of power and influence needs shifting.
- Second, as a social institution the church quickly became a contending locus of power in the Roman Empire.
1.2 Genetics The position of a gene or mutation on a chromosome.Genes at a locus that differ by mutations are known as alleles or haplotypes....
- The very large pine genomes are highly repetitive, and microsatellite loci also occur as gene families.
- The data included results of genomic typing at polymorphic loci at or near genes of the autoimmune inflammatory response.
2 Mathematics A curve or other figure formed by all the points satisfying a particular equation of the relation between coordinates, or by a point, line, or surface moving according to mathematically defined conditions: a parabola is the locus of a point that moves so as to be equidistant from a fixed point and a straight line...
- The curve can be considered as the locus of a point P defined as follows.
- The catenary is the locus of the focus of a parabola rolling along a straight line.
- Where lines were not common to multiple loci, lines are labeled only to species.
3 Law short for locus standi.It is further submitted that the claimants lack the locus to challenge the adoption of the negotiated procedure....
- However the ITC does not have a statutory locus to intervene in editorial judgments of this nature.
- If two crimes share the same mens rea, actus reus, and locus, they are, if not identical, comparable.
Origin
Early 18th century: from Latin, 'place'.