Los Alamos
28
5.8
- proper noun
- /lɔs ˈæləˌmoʊs/
- Many historical events took place in Los Alamos, especially relating to the development of atomic energy.
- Los Alamos, New
Examples
-
Other members of the consortium are the University of New Mexico, Dine College, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and Sandia National Labs.
Academic text (2000) -
The 2000 Cerro Grande Fire in Los Alamos, New Mexico, provides a poignant example of a case where public trust for prescribed fire was significantly eroded by a single decision.
Academic text (2005) -
And I hadn't realized that until I had spent over 5 years In Los Alamos studying it.
-
Later that year, the same genius at the Forest Service made the same mistake near Los Alamos, NM, threatening our nuclear labs.
Blog text (9) -
I'm going to that Los Alamos place in New Mexico, to help those Whitemen want to make the world safe for freedom" (176).
Academic text (2012) -
At the University of New Mexico's Los Alamos branch campus, instruction is delivered exclusively by part-timers (comments made by L. Root at the 38th Annual Conference of the Council of Universities and Colleges, Atlanta, Georgia, April 1996).
Academic text (1996) -
During World War II, scientists developed the first atomic bombs in Los Alamos, New Mexico.
-
The town of Los Alamos was critical to the Manhattan Project, where key advancements in nuclear technology were made.
Surface Forms
Morphology
Los + Alamos
Los Alamos is a toponym whose constituents ('los' as a Spanish article and 'álamos' meaning poplars) do not transparently signal 'national laboratory' or 'scientists'; the reference to the laboratory is metonymic and culturally specific. Proper names and metonymic place-for-institution uses are arbitrary and require prior exposure, so a B1 learner who only knows the constituent words would not reliably derive this meaning.
Etymology
Los Alamos comes from Spanish: Los means 'the' and Alamos means 'poplar trees'. During World War II the quiet town became the secret site where scientists built the first atomic bombs, so today Los Alamos often brings to mind both the place and its role in making nuclear weapons.