"grammatical case indicating 'place,' or 'the place wherein,'" 1804, formed as if from Latin *locativus, from locus "a place, spot, position" (see locus) on model of Latin vocativus "vocative" (from vocatus, past participle of vocare "to call, summon"). The case itself has been reconstructed as part of the Indo-European heritage and is well-preserved in some descendants, notably Sanskrit and Lithuanian; it survives elsewhere in relics, but Germanic abandoned it long ago. As an adjective by 1817, in grammatical use, 1841.