Meaning & use
geolocate
Last updated
Meanings
verbtransitivetechnical
To work out the real-world position of a device, person or image, usually with satellite or network data.
Grammar: Takes an object: geolocate the phone.
Patterns
- geolocate something
- geolocate something using something
The app can geolocate your phone within a few meters.
Investigators managed to geolocate the photo from the shadows and buildings.
Emergency services need to geolocate callers quickly.
verbtransitivecomputing
To attach location information to data such as a post, picture or record.
Grammar: Often used in the past participle: geolocated images.
Patterns
- geolocate data
- geolocate a post
The camera will geolocate every picture you take.
We geolocate each customer record to the nearest store.
Users can choose not to geolocate their posts.
Word forms
| third person singular | geolocates |
|---|---|
| past tense | geolocated |
| past participle | geolocated |
| -ing form | geolocating |
Common combinations
- geolocate a device
- The service can geolocate a device even without GPS.
- geolocate a photo
- Researchers geolocate a photo by matching landmarks.
- geolocate users
- The website tries to geolocate users to show local prices.
- geolocate an IP address
- It is possible to geolocate an IP address to a city.
- accurately geolocate
- The system can accurately geolocate most calls.
Synonyms and how they differ
- locate
- Locate is general and works for any search, while geolocate is specifically about geographic position using technology.
- pinpoint
- Pinpoint stresses finding an exact spot, but it does not suggest a technical process the way geolocate does.
- track
- Track suggests following movement over time, whereas geolocate may find a single position.
- geotag
- Geotag means adding coordinates to a file, so it describes labeling rather than working out where something is.
Word family
- geolocation noun
- the process of finding or the data about a position
- geolocated adjective
- having a location attached
- geotag verb
- to add location data to a file
- location noun
- a place where something is
Commonly confused: geolocate or geotag?
geolocate vs geotag
Geotag means to add coordinates to a file, whereas geolocate means to find where something actually is.
Practice
The investigators were able to ___ the video by matching the mountains in the background to a map.
Choose one answer.
Geolocate means to determine where something is in the world. Relocate means to move, allocate means to assign, and dislocate means to put out of place.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “geolocate”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.