near

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[edit] English

[edit] Etymology

From Middle English nere, ner, from Old English nēar (“nearer”, comparative of nēah, "nigh"), influenced by Old Norse nǣr (“near”), both originating from Proto-Germanic *nēhwizô (“nearer”), comparative of the adverb *nēhw (“near”), and from Proto-Indo-European *meg'hr- . Cognate with Old Frisian niār (“nearer”), Old High German nāhōr (“nearer”).

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Adjective

near (comparative nearer, superlative nearest)

  1. (of an animate or inanimate object) physically close.
  2. (of an event) approaching
    The end is near.
  3. approximate, almost
    The two words are near synonyms.

[edit] Antonyms

[edit] Derived terms

terms derived from near (adjective)

[edit] Translations

physically close

[edit] Adverb

near (comparative nearer, superlative nearest)

  1. Having a small intervening distance with regard to something.
    I'm near sighted.
  2. (colloquial) nearly
    • 1666 Samuel Pepys Diary and Correspondence (1867)
      ...he hears for certain that the Queen-Mother is about and hath near finished a peace with France....
    • 1825 David Hume, Tobias George Smollett The History of England p. 263
      Sir John Friend had very near completed a regiment of horse.
    • 2003 Owen Parry Honor's Kingdom p. 365
      Thinking about those pounds and pence, I near forgot my wound.
    • 2004 Jimmy Buffett A Salty Piece of Land p. 315, p. 35
      "I damn near forgot." He pulled an envelope from his jacket.
    • 2006 Juliet Marillier The Dark Mirror p. 377
      The fire was almost dead, the chamber near dark.

[edit] Derived terms

[edit] Translations

Having a small intervening distance with regard to something.

[edit] Preposition

near

  1. close to, in close proximity to.
    • 1820 Mary Shelley, Maurice, or The Fisher's Cot:
      He entered the inn, and asking for dinner, unbuckled his wallet, and sat down to rest himself near the door.
    • 1843 Edgar Allan Poe, The Gold-Bug:
      Fastening one end of this at that point of the trunk of the tree which was nearest the peg, he unrolled it till it reached the peg and thence further unrolled it, in the direction already established by the two points of the tree and the peg, for the distance of fifty feet ...
    • 1897 H. G. Wells, The Star:
      The star grew--it grew with a terrible steadiness hour after hour, a little larger each hour, a little nearer the midnight zenith, and brighter and brighter, until it had turned night into a second day.
    • 1927 H.P. Lovecraft, The Colour Out of Space:
      It shied, balked, and whinnied, and in the end he could do nothing but drive it into the yard while the men used their own strength to get the heavy wagon near enough the hayloft for convenient pitching.
  2. close to in time.
    The voyage was near completion.
[edit] Usage notes

Joan Maling (1983) shows that near is best analysed as an adjective with which the use of to is optional, rather than a preposition. It has the comparative and the superlative, and it can be followed by enough.

[edit] Antonyms

[edit] Translations

in close proximity to

[edit] Verb

near (third-person singular simple present nears, present participle nearing, simple past and past participle neared)

  1. To decrease the distance to something.

[edit] Translations

decrease distance

[edit] See also

[edit] References

[edit] Statistics

[edit] Anagrams

[edit] Latin

[edit] Verb

near

  1. first-person singular present passive subjunctive of neō
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