Locate
early 16th century: from Latin locat- ‘placed’, from the verb locare, from locus ‘place’. The original sense was as a legal term meaning ‘let out on hire’, later (late 16th century) ‘assign to a particular place’, then (particularly in North American usage) ‘establish in a place’. The sense ‘discover the exact position of’ dates from the late 19th century.
wiktionary
Borrowed from Latin locātus, past participle of loco(“to place”), from locus(“place”)
etymonline
locate (v.)
1650s, intransitive, "establish oneself in a place, settle, adopt a fixed residence," from Latin locatus, past participle of locare "to place, put, set, dispose, arrange," from locus "a place" (see locus).
Transitive sense of "to fix (something) in a place, settle or establish (something) in a particular spot" is from 1739, American English, originally of land surveys. And via the notion of "mark the limits of" (a parcel of land) the sense of the verb extended to "establish (something) in a place" (1807) and "find out the exact place of" (1882, American English). Related: Located; locating.
