loco

See also: locò

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈləʊ.kəʊ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊkəʊ

Etymology 1

From Italian.

Adverb

loco (not comparable)

1. (music) A direction in written or printed music to be returning to the proper pitch after having played an octave higher or lower.

Etymology 2

From Spanish loco (“insane, crazy; loose”).

Adjective

loco (comparative more loco, superlative most loco)

1. (colloquial) Crazy.
   • 1943 April 3, Super-Rabbit, spoken by an unnamed rabbit:

     It's Cottontail Smith, and he's gone plumb loco!

   • 1988, Phil Collins (lyrics and music), “Loco in Acapulco”, in Indestructible, performed by Four Tops:

     Going loco down in Acapulco / If you stay too long / Yes, you'll be going loco down in Acapulco / The magic down there is so strong

   • 1993, “Insane in the Brain”, in Black Sunday, performed by Cypress Hill:

     Who you trying to get crazy with ése? Don't you know I'm loco?

   • 2003, “In da Club”, in Get Rich or Die Tryin', performed by 50 Cent:

     Holla in New York, fo'sho they'll tell you I'm loco

   • 2003 December 15, The New Yorker, page 56:

     You know, I’m a little loco. Kinda crazy, zany guy.

2. (Southwestern US) Intoxicated by eating locoweed.

   Synonym: pea struck

Derived terms

• loc
• loco moco
• locoweed

 

Translations

crazy

• Bulgarian: луд (bg) (lud)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 瘋／疯 (zh) (fēng)

• Finnish: hullu (fi)
• Russian: чо́кнутый (ru) (čóknutyj)

Noun

loco (plural locos or locoes)

1. A certain species of Astragalus or Oxytropis, capable of causing locoism.

   Synonym: locoweed

Verb

loco (third-person singular simple present locos, present participle locoing, simple past and past participle locoed)

1. (transitive) To poison with the loco plant; to affect with locoism.
2. (transitive, colloquial, by extension) To render insane.
   • 1904, Charles Dudley Warner, “The Locoed Novelist”, in The Complete Essays of C. D. Warner‎^[1]:

     They say that he is locoed. The insane asylums of California contain many shepherds.

Related terms

• locoism

Etymology 3

Clipping of locomotive.

Noun

loco (plural locos)

1. (rail transport, informal) A locomotive.
   • 1898, Rudyard Kipling, “.007”, in The Day's Work‎^[2], New York: Doubleday & McClure Co., page 243:

     A locomotive is, next to a marine engine, the most sensitive thing man ever made; and No. .007, besides being sensitive, was new. The red paint was hardly dry on his spotless bumper-bar, his headlight shone like a fireman’s helmet, and his cab might have been a hard-wood-finish parlour. They had run him into the round-house after his trial—he had said good-bye to his best friend in the shops, the overhead travelling-crane—the big world was just outside; and the other locos were taking stock of him.

   • 1971, Gwen White, Antique Toys And Their Background, page 94:

     Small boys in 1963 could have traction engines with real steam coming out of the funnel, and Old Western locos had flashing lights, hooters and cow-pushers.

Derived terms

• locoman
• locoshed
• locospotter

Translations

locomotive (short form)

• German: Lok (de) f
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: lok (no) n

  Nynorsk: lok n

• Russian: лок (ru) m (lok)
• Swedish: lok (sv) n

See also

• in loco
• in loco parentis
• in loco parentum

 

Anagrams

• COOL, Colo, Colo., Cool, colo, colo-, cool

French

Etymology

Clipping of locomotive

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lɔ.ko/

Noun

loco f (plural locos)

1. (informal) locomotive

Further reading

• “loco”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Interlingua

Noun

loco (plural locos)

1. place, location

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɔ.ko/
• Rhymes: -ɔko
• Hyphenation: lò‧co

Etymology 1

From Latin locus, from Old Latin stlocus, from Proto-Indo-European *stel- (“to put, place, locate”).

Noun

loco m (plural lochi or (obsolete, regional) locora f)

1. (archaic, now poetic) Alternative form of luogo (“place, location”)
   • 1300s–1310s, Dante Alighieri, “Canto III”, in Inferno [Hell]‎^[3], lines 16–18; republished as Giorgio Petrocchi, editor, La Commedia secondo l'antica vulgata [The Commedia according to the ancient vulgate]‎^[4], 2^nd revised edition, Florence: publ. Le Lettere, 1994:

     ["]Noi siam venuti al loco ov’i’ t’ ho detto / che tu vedrai le genti dolorose / c’ hanno perduto il ben de l’intelletto".

     "We have come to the place wherein I told you that you will see the tormented people who have lost the good of intellect."

   • 1350s, anonymous author, “Prologo e primo capitolo [Preface and first chapter]”, in Cronica [Chronicle]‎^[5] (overall work in Old Italian); republished as Giuseppe Porta, editor, Anonimo romano - Cronica, Adelphi, 1979, →ISBN:

     le memorie se facevano con scoiture in sassi e pataffii, li quali se ponevano nelle locora famose dove demoravano moititudine de iente (Rome)

     accounts were made through incisions on rocks and gravestones, which were placed in famed places, where moltitudes of people lived

Etymology 2

Inherited from Latin illōc but influenced in its form by Etymology 1.

Adverb

loco

1. (Old Italian, now only dialectal) there, in that place

   Synonyms: (uncommon) colà, (literary) ivi, là, lì

   • c. 1260s, Brunetto Latini, chapter VII, in Il tesoretto [The small treasure]‎^[6], lines 769–774; collected in Luigi Di Benedetto, editor, Poemetti allegorico-didattici del secolo XIII [Allegorical-didactical poems from the 13^th century]‎^[7], Bari: Laterza, 1941, page 25:

     Questi hanno per ofizio
     che lo bene, e lo vizio,
     li fatti, e le favelle
     ritornano ale celle
     ch’i’ v’agio nominate,
     e loco son pensate.

     Their [the senses'] task is [to see to it] that the good, and the vices, the facts, and the words return to the spaces I have mentioned, and there they're thought.

Etymology 3

Verb

loco

1. first-person singular present indicative of locare

Further reading

• loco¹ in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Anagrams

• -colo, colo, colò, oclo-

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *stlokāō. Equivalent to locus (“place, location”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈlo.koː/, [ˈɫ̪ɔkoː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈlo.ko/, [ˈlɔːko]

Verb

locō (present infinitive locāre, perfect active locāvī, supine locātum); first conjugation

1. to put, place, set

   Synonyms: pono, colloco, figo, sisto, statuo, constituo, struō, impono, defigo

2. to arrange, establish
3. to lease, hire out, lend

Conjugation

Conjugation of locō (first conjugation)
indicative		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
active	present	locō	locās	locat	locāmus	locātis	locant
	imperfect	locābam	locābās	locābat	locābāmus	locābātis	locābant
	future	locābō	locābis	locābit	locābimus	locābitis	locābunt
	perfect	locāvī	locāvistī, locāstī2	locāvit, locāt2	locāvimus, locāmus2	locāvistis, locāstis2	locāvērunt, locāvēre, locārunt2
	pluperfect	locāveram, locāram2	locāverās, locārās2	locāverat, locārat2	locāverāmus, locārāmus2	locāverātis, locārātis2	locāverant, locārant2
	future perfect	locāverō, locārō2	locāveris, locāris2	locāverit, locārit2	locāverimus, locārimus2	locāveritis, locāritis2	locāverint, locārint2
	sigmatic future1	locāssō	locāssis	locāssit	locāssimus	locāssitis	locāssint
passive	present	locor	locāris, locāre	locātur	locāmur	locāminī	locantur
	imperfect	locābar	locābāris, locābāre	locābātur	locābāmur	locābāminī	locābantur
	future	locābor	locāberis, locābere	locābitur	locābimur	locābiminī	locābuntur
	perfect	locātus + present active indicative of sum
	pluperfect	locātus + imperfect active indicative of sum
	future perfect	locātus + future active indicative of sum
subjunctive		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
active	present	locem	locēs	locet	locēmus	locētis	locent
	imperfect	locārem	locārēs	locāret	locārēmus	locārētis	locārent
	perfect	locāverim, locārim2	locāverīs, locārīs2	locāverit, locārit2	locāverīmus, locārīmus2	locāverītis, locārītis2	locāverint, locārint2
	pluperfect	locāvissem, locāssem2	locāvissēs, locāssēs2	locāvisset, locāsset2	locāvissēmus, locāssēmus2	locāvissētis, locāssētis2	locāvissent, locāssent2
	sigmatic aorist1	locāssim	locāssīs	locāssīt	locāssīmus	locāssītis	locāssint
passive	present	locer	locēris, locēre	locētur	locēmur	locēminī	locentur
	imperfect	locārer	locārēris, locārēre	locārētur	locārēmur	locārēminī	locārentur
	perfect	locātus + present active subjunctive of sum
	pluperfect	locātus + imperfect active subjunctive of sum
imperative		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
active	present	—	locā	—	—	locāte	—
	future	—	locātō	locātō	—	locātōte	locantō
passive	present	—	locāre	—	—	locāminī	—
	future	—	locātor	locātor	—	—	locantor
non-finite forms		active			passive
		present	perfect	future	present	perfect	future
infinitives		locāre	locāvisse, locāsse2	locātūrum esse	locārī	locātum esse	locātum īrī
participles		locāns	—	locātūrus	—	locātus	locandus
verbal nouns		gerund				supine
		genitive	dative	accusative	ablative	accusative	ablative
		locandī	locandō	locandum	locandō	locātum	locātū

¹At least one use of the archaic "sigmatic future" and "sigmatic aorist" tenses is attested, which are used by Old Latin writers; most notably Plautus and Terence. The sigmatic future is generally ascribed a future or future perfect meaning, while the sigmatic aorist expresses a possible desire ("might want to").
²At least one rare poetic syncopated perfect form is attested.

Derived terms

• allocō
• collocō
• ēlocō
• locārium
• locārius
• locātīcius
• locātiō
• locātor
• locātōrius
• locātus
• locitō
• oblocō

 

Related terms

• locālis
• locālitās
• locāliter
• locellus
• loculus
• locus

 

Descendants

• Catalan: llogar
• Franco-Provençal: loyér
• French: louer
• Friulian: logâ
• Italian: locare
• Occitan: logar
• Sicilian: lucari
• Spanish: logar
• Venetan: logar
• → Welsh: llogi
• → German: lozieren
• → English: locate

Noun

locō m

1. dative/ablative singular of locus (“place, spot”)

References

• “loco”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “loco”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• Félix Gaffiot (1934) “loco”, in Dictionnaire illustré latin-français [Illustrated Latin-French Dictionary] (in French), Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[8], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • (ambiguous) heights, high ground: loca edita, superiora
    
  • (ambiguous) rough and hilly ground: loca aspera et montuosa (Planc. 9. 22)
    
  • (ambiguous) level country; plains: loca plana or simply plana
    
  • (ambiguous) uncultivated districts: loca inculta
    
  • (ambiguous) deserts: loca deserta (opp. frequentia)
    
  • (ambiguous) pleasant districts; charming surroundings: loca amoena, amoenitas locorum
    
  • (ambiguous) to be favourably situated: opportuno loco situm or positum esse
    
  • (ambiguous) distant places: loca longinqua
    
  • (ambiguous) to leave a place: discedere a, de, ex loco aliquo
    
  • (ambiguous) to leave a place: egredi loco; excedere ex loco
    
  • (ambiguous) to quit a place for ever: decedere loco, de, ex loco
    
  • (ambiguous) not to stir from one's place: loco or vestigio se non movere
    
  • (ambiguous) to treat as one's own child: aliquem in liberorum loco habere
    
  • (ambiguous) my position is considerably improved; my prospects are brighter: res meae meliore loco, in meliore causa sunt
    
  • (ambiguous) how are you getting on: quo loco res tuae sunt?
    
  • (ambiguous) at this point the question arises: hoc loco exsistit quaestio, quaeritur
    
  • (ambiguous) our (not noster) author tells us at this point: scriptor hoc loco dicit
    
  • (ambiguous) Cicero says this somewhere: Cicero loco quodam haec dicit
    
  • (ambiguous) to set an ambuscade: insidias collocare, locare (Mil. 10. 27)
    
  • (ambiguous) to place some one in ambush: aliquem in insidiis locare, collocare, ponere
    
  • (ambiguous) to dwell in a certain place: domicilium (sedem ac domicilium) habere in aliquo loco
    
  • (ambiguous) to contract for the building of something: opus locare
    
  • (ambiguous) to give, undertake a contract for building a house: domum aedificandam locare, conducere
    
  • (ambiguous) of high rank: summo loco natus
    
  • (ambiguous) of illustrious family: nobili, honesto, illustri loco or genere natus
    
  • (ambiguous) of humble, obscure origin: humili, obscuro loco natus
    
  • (ambiguous) from the lowest classes: infimo loco natus
    
  • (ambiguous) a knight by birth: equestri loco natus or ortus
    
  • (ambiguous) to occupy a very high position in the state: in altissimo dignitatis gradu collocatum, locatum, positum esse
    
  • (ambiguous) to receive tenders for the construction of temples, highroads: locare aedes, vias faciendas (Phil. 9. 7. 16)
    
  • (ambiguous) to let out public works to contract: locare opera publica
    
  • (ambiguous) to reconnoitre the ground: loca, regiones, loci naturam explorare
    
  • (ambiguous) to occupy the high ground: occupare loca superiora
    
  • (ambiguous) to encamp: castra ponere, locare
    
  • (ambiguous) in a favourable position: idoneo, aequo, suo (opp. iniquo) loco
    
  • (ambiguous) to drive the enemy from his position: loco movere, depellere, deicere hostem (B. G. 7. 51)
    
  • (ambiguous) to abandon one's position: loco excedere
    

North Moluccan Malay

Alternative forms

• baloco

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɔ.t͡ʃɔ/
• Hyphenation: lo‧co

Verb

loco

1. (intransitive, vulgar) to masturbate

Interjection

loco

1. (vulgar) A term of abuse that expressing dismay or discontent.

Old Spanish

Etymology

Perhaps borrowed from Andalusian Arabic لَوْقَاء (láwqa), from Arabic لَوْقَاء (“stupid”), or from Ancient Greek γλαυκός (glaukós, “clear”). For more, see the modern Spanish descendant.

Adjective

loco (feminine loca, masculine plural locos, feminine plural locas)

1. crazy, mad, insane
   • c. 1280, Alfonso X, General Estoria, tercera parte, (published by Pedro Sánchez-Prieto Borja and Bautista Horcajada Diezma, 1994, Madrid: Gredos):

     Yo só muy loco entre los omnes, e la sapiencia d'ellos non es comigo, mas la de Dios; ca la que yo é non me la dieron ellos si non Dios.

     I am insane among people, and their wisdom is not with me, but rather God's, for mine was not given to me by them but by God.

Descendants

• Spanish: loco

Portuguese

Verb

loco

1. first-person singular present indicative of locar

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈloko/ [ˈlo.ko]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -oko
• Syllabification: lo‧co

Etymology 1

Uncertain. Inherited from Old Spanish loco, perhaps from Andalusian Arabic لَوْقَاء (láwqa), from Arabic لَوْقَاء (lawqāʔ), feminine singular form of أَلْوَق (ʔalwaq, “stupid”), by reinterpreting the final Andalusian Arabic -a as the Ibero-Romance -a and back-forming the masculine with -o. Edward Roberts thinks the term is related to Arabic لَاق (lāq, “to soften”), but this verb is of root l-y-q, not l-w-q like أَلْوَق (ʔalwaq). Alternatively, derived from Ancient Greek γλαυκός (glaukós, “clear”). Compare Portuguese louco and Sicilian loccu.

Adjective

loco (feminine loca, masculine plural locos, feminine plural locas, superlative loquísimo)

1. crazy, insane, mad, nuts (asserting that something is out of place in the head)

   Synonyms: chiflado, desquiciado, pirado, trastornado

   Estoy loco por ti. ― I am crazy for you, madly in love with you.

   David está muy loco. ― David's really crazy.

   Lorena se pone algo loca cuando bebe. ― Lorena gets a bit crazy when she drinks [alcohol].

2. rash, risky, imprudent

   Synonyms: alocado, arrebatado, atolondrado, imprudente, insensato

   una decisión loca de último momento ― a rash decision taken at the last minute

   No sean locos, tómense su tiempo. ― Don't be imprudent, take your time.

3. tremendous, terrific, huge, enormous

   Synonyms: enorme, grande, tremendo

   Tuviste una suerte loca al ganar la rifa. ― You had some huge luck when winning the raffle.

4. malfunctioning, broken and working incorrectly (said of a machine)

   El reloj de la abuela se ha vuelto loco. ― Grandma's clock has started malfunctioning.

5. overgrown, rambling

   Synonym: descuidado

   Los arbustos se ven locos, deberías podarlos. ― The bushes look overgrown now, you should trim them.

   El cabello se te ve loco, ve a cortártelo. ― Your hair looks overgrown, go get a haircut.

6. loose (pipe fittings, pulley)

   Synonyms: flojo, suelto

7. (colloquial) sexy (only with ser)

   Pero qué loca es, qué loca se ve. ― She's so sexy, she looks so sexy.

Descendants

• → English: loco
• → Swedish: loco
• → Tetelcingo Nahuatl: luco

Noun

loco m (plural locos, feminine loca, feminine plural locas)

1. (derogatory) a crazy person; a madman

   Ese es un loco; ten cuidado. ― He is a crazy man, be careful.

2. a highly affected homosexual; fruit
3. a plant in the genus Astragalus or Oxytropis

Derived terms

• a lo loco
• a tontas y a locas
• algarrobo loco
• cada loco con su tema
• casa de locos
• científico loco
• de locos
• elote loco
• enfermedad de las vacas locas
• enloquecer
• hacerse el loco
• locamente
• loco como una cabra (“mad as a hatter, mad as a March hare”)
• loco de remate
• locoísmo
• locos y niños dicen la verdad
• locura
• loquear
• loquero
• loquísimo
• malva loca
• más loco que una cabra
• mate del loco
• pupusa loca
• vaca loca
• viruela loca

 

See also

• demencia
• trastorno
• trastornar
• trastornado

Etymology 2

From Mapudungun [Term?].

Noun

loco m (plural locos)

1. (Chile) Chilean edible gastropod mollusk that resembles abalone but is, in fact, a muricid (Concholepas concholepas)

   Synonym: abalón chileno

Further reading

• “loco”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28

Anagrams

• coló, cool

Swedish

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish loco.

Adjective

loco (comparative mer loco, superlative mest loco)

1. (slang) crazy, nuts

References

• Slangopedia