Locs
Rope-like strands formed when hair is left to mat or is twisted and knitted together over time.
Also: dreadlocks, locks, jata
Locs, also called dreadlocks or locks, are ropes of hair that form when shed hair stays inside each strand and binds with the growing hair. Coily hair forms locs readily; looser textures need more work. Locs have deep history: the matted jata of Hindu ascetics, devotees of Shiva, ancient depictions from Egypt and Greece, and the locks of the Rastafari, who took them up in Jamaica in the mid-20th century. Many wearers prefer the word locs to dreadlocks.