The term is a modern scholarly compound, constructed in the 20th century within the fields of anthropology and sociology. It combines the Latin root uxor- (wife), the source of the English word 'uxorious' meaning excessively fond of one's wife, with the common English adjective 'local', derived from Latin locus (place). The literal construction "wife-place" logically describes the post-marital residence pattern. This pattern is contrasted with its counterpart 'virilocal' (from Latin vir, man) and forms part of a specialized vocabulary used to categorize kinship and social organization cross-culturally.

Structure: uxori (wife) + local (place) uxori: from Latin uxor (wife), functioning as a combining form meaning "of a wife" or "pertaining to a wife". local: from Latin localis (pertaining to a place), functioning as an adjective-forming suffix meaning "relating to a place".