Commonly in erroneous (fem.) form locale. [Fr.; absol. use of local adj.: see next.] A place or locality; esp. a place considered with reference to some particular event or circumstances connected with it; a quarter in which certain things are done, or which is chosen for particular operations.
1772. Simes, Mil. Guide (1781), 7. The Mareschal [de Puyssegur] says, he saw a battle lost, because an Aid-de-camp had, upon a false representation of the local made to the General, been sent to him who commanded the right wing, to order him to change his ground.
1783. Phil. Trans., LXXIII. 189. Unless they attend … to the nature of the soil of the local where those accidents happened, their reports will generally meet with little credit.
1816. Scott, Bl. Dwarf, xi. O, the propriety of the locale is easily vindicated.
1842. Barham, Ingol. Leg., Ser. II. Old Woman in Grey. But no matter—lay the locale where you may.
c. 1844. Syd. Smith, in Mem. (1855), II. 539. I hear that Lord Carlisle is wheeled down to the gallery…. I know all the locale so well that I see him in his transit.
1865. E. Burritt, Walk to Land’s End, xi. 381. Feeling that their little thatched cottage would, some day or other, be ranked among the celebrities of English locales.
