Etymograph

English

loco

Borrowed from Italian.

Another origin of loco

  1. Arabicc. 500–presentلَوْقَاءuncertain
  2. Andalusian Arabicc. 800–1600لَوْقَاءláwqauncertain
  3. Old Spanishc. 950–1500loco‘crazy, mad, insane’uncertain
  4. Spanishc. 1500–presentloco‘insane, crazy’
  5. Englishtodayloco

Another origin of loco

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*stel-‘to put, place, locate’uncertain
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*stlokosuncertain
  3. Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEstlocus
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElocus‘place, cause’
  5. Englishtodayloco

Today it means

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

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “loco”. 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 / loco

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