locally
- 1In or from the area close by, such as the town or neighborhood being talked about.
Most of the restaurant's vegetables are grown locally, some within a mile of the kitchen.
The old ferry was known locally as the Bathtub because of its round shape.
Similarnearby
Oppositenationally, internationally, globally
- 2In or to one limited part of the body only.
The ointment should be applied locally to the rash twice a day.
The tumor had grown locally but had not spread to other organs.
Similartopically
Oppositesystemically
Note
Its natural partner in medical writing is systemically: a drug can be well tolerated locally and systemically, comfortable where it goes in and harmless to the body as a whole. On a label, to be applied locally means on the affected spot only. A tumor that has grown locally has spread into nearby tissue but not to distant organs.
- 3In terms of physical place or position.
The theologian argued that heaven is not locally above us but a state of being.
The two chapels are locally separated by a courtyard, yet they share one congregation.
Similarspatially, physically
- 4In mathematics, when restricted to a small enough region around a particular point, or in some uses around each point.
A sphere is locally Euclidean, since any small patch of it looks like a flat plane.
The function is locally bounded, so near each point its values stay within some limit.
Oppositeglobally
Note
Mathematicians attach it to a property to claim that property only near a point: locally Euclidean, locally bounded. A sphere shows the idea, flat in every small patch though curved as a whole. Read the statement with care, since locally can mean near one given point or near every point, and a theorem's strength depends on which.
Practice
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Origin
Formed from local + the adverb-forming suffix -ly.