Etymograph

English

locator

Locator comes from Latin locātor, from locus ‘place’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *stel-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*stel-1‘to put, to place’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*stlokos1uncertain
  3. Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEstlocus1
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElocus1‘place’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElocō1
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElocātor2
  7. Englishtodaylocator2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin locator
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English locator

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*stel-Wiktionary, Latin locator‘to put, to place’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*stlokosWiktionary, Latin locatoruncertain
  3. Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEstlocusWiktionary, Latin locator
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElocusWiktionary, Latin locator‘place’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElocōWiktionary, Latin locator
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElocātorWiktionary, English locator
  7. EnglishtodaylocatorWiktionary, English locator

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *stel- ‘to put, to place’

install, stole, stall, apostle, stalk, stale, stool, epistle, stele, stela, stell, apostolate, stolid, 27 more

through Old Latin stlocus

locality, milieu, locale, 11 more

through Latin locus ‘place’

local, allowance, lieu, locus, loco, 14 more

through Latin locō

allow, allocate, collocation, 8 more

Today it means

noun One who, or that which, locates.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “locator”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin locator. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *stel- / locator

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