local-device
|lo-cal-de-vice|
🇺🇸
/ˌloʊkəl dɪˈvaɪs/
🇬🇧
/ˌləʊkəl dɪˈvaɪs/
(local device)
device associated with the local/host system
Etymology
'local-device' is a compound of 'local' and 'device'. 'local' originates from Latin, specifically the word 'locus', where 'locus' meant 'place' (via Late Latin 'localis'); 'device' originates from Old French 'devis/ device', ultimately from Latin 'dividere' where the root meant 'to divide, separate'.
'local' passed from Latin 'locus' to Late Latin 'localis' and into Middle English as 'local'; 'device' passed from Latin 'dividere' through Old French 'devis/device' into Middle English 'device'. The modern compound 'local device' developed in technical usage to denote a device associated with a local place or host.
Initially, 'local' referred to 'place' and 'device' to a 'decision, contrivance or instrument'; over time 'device' broadened to mean 'tool or apparatus' (including electronic equipment), and together they evolved to mean 'a device associated with a local system/host'.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
a hardware unit directly attached to or operated by a local system (physically or on the same host/network segment), as opposed to a remote device accessed over a wide-area network or cloud service.
The backup drive is configured as the local-device for this workstation.
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Noun 2
in software and OS contexts, a logical or virtual device that the host machine manages locally (for example, a locally mounted virtual disk or a device driver representing hardware on the same machine).
The application needs permission to access the local-device driver rather than the remote API.
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Last updated: 2025/12/14 02:42