1. A place, especially with reference to a particular event: the locale of a crime.
2. The scene or setting, as of a novel.

[From French local, local, locale, from Old French. See local.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.