Locum
noun, slang ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 Ellipsis of locum tenens. Australia, British, abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis, informal
"There was a certain amount of feeling evidenced against Dr. Quentin. To begin with, he was not the regular doctor, only a locum, putting in a month’s work, whilst Dr. Bolitho was away on a well-earned holiday."
- 2 A share in a Genoese trading vessel. historical
- 3 someone (physician or clergyman) who substitutes temporarily for another member of the same profession wordnet
- 4 A period working as a locum tenens. Australia, British, informal
"-- "I suppose you wouldn't like to do a locum for a month on the South coast? Three guineas a week with board and lodging." -- "I wouldn't mind," said Philip. -- "It's at Farnley, in Dorsetshire. Doctor South. You'd have to go down at once; his assistant has developed mumps. I believe it's a very pleasant place.""
Example
More examples"There was a certain amount of feeling evidenced against Dr. Quentin. To begin with, he was not the regular doctor, only a locum, putting in a month’s work, whilst Dr. Bolitho was away on a well-earned holiday."
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.