See copper beginning to search place (5)
I believe the answer is:
locus
'place' is the definition.
('place' in Latin)
'see copper beginning to search' is the wordplay.
'see' becomes 'lo' (archaic exclamation meaning 'look!').
'copper' becomes 'Cu' (chemical symbol).
'beginning to' says to take the initial letters.
The first letter of 'search' is 's'.
'lo'+'cu'+'s'='LOCUS'
(Other definitions for locus that I've seen before include "Exact place of something" , "Place of occurrence" , "Position, point, place" , "place in court matters" , "line" .)