Wiktionary

near

See also: Near

EnglishEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Middle English nere, ner, from Old English nēar (“nearer”, comparative of nēah (“nigh”)), influenced by Old Norse nær (“near”), both originating from Proto-Germanic *nēhwiz (“nearer”), comparative of the adverb *nēhw (“near”), from the adjective *nēhwaz, ultimately from Pre-Proto-Germanic *h₂nḗḱwos, a lengthened-grade adjective derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₂neḱ- (“to reach”).

Cognate with Old Frisian niār (“nearer”), Dutch naar (“to, towards”), German näher (“nearer”), Danish nær (“near, close”), Norwegian nær (“near, close”) Swedish nära (“near, close”). See also nigh.

Near appears to be derived from (or at the very least influenced by) the North Germanic languages; compare Danish nær (“near, close”), Norwegian nær (“near, close”) Swedish nära (“near, close”), as opposed to nigh, which continues the inherited West Germanic adjective, like Dutch na (“close, near”), German nah (“close, near, nearby”), Luxembourgish no (“nearby, near, close”). Both, however, are ultimately derived from the same Proto-Germanic root: *nēhw (“near, close”).

PronunciationEdit

AdjectiveEdit

near (comparative nearer, superlative nearest)

  1. Physically close.
    I can't see near objects very clearly without my glasses.
    Stay near at all times.
    Synonym: close
    Antonym: remote
  2. Close in time.
    The end is near.
  3. Closely connected or related.
    The deceased man had no near relatives.
  4. Close to one's interests, affection, etc.; intimate; dear.
    A matter of near consequence to me.
    a near friend
  5. Close to anything followed or imitated; not free, loose, or rambling.
    a version near to the original
  6. So as barely to avoid or pass injury or loss; close; narrow.
    a near escape
  7. Approximate, almost.
    The two words are near synonyms.
  8. (Britain, in relation to a vehicle) On the side nearest to the kerb (the left-hand side if one drives on the left).
    The near front wheel came loose.
    Antonym: off
  9. (dated) Next to the driver, when he is on foot; (US) on the left of an animal or a team.
    the near ox; the near leg
  10. (obsolete) Immediate; direct; close; short.
  11. (now rare) Stingy; parsimonious. [from 17th c.]
    Don't be near with your pocketbook.
  12. (programming, not comparable) Within the currently selected segment in a segmented memory architecture.
    Antonym: far
    a near pointer

Usage notesEdit

SynonymsEdit

AntonymsEdit

Derived termsEdit

TranslationsEdit

stingy — see stingy
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

AdverbEdit

near (comparative nearer, superlative nearest)

  1. At or towards a position close in space or time. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
  2. Nearly; almost.
    He was near unconscious when I found him.
    I jumped into the near-freezing water.
    I near ruptured myself trying to move the piano.
    • 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, page 263
      Sir John Friend had very near completed a regiment of horse.
    • 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, H.L. Brækstad, transl., Folk and Fairy Tales, page 169:
      Peter ran after them as fast as his legs would carry him, but at last he had only one of the hares left, and when this was gone, he was very near burst with running.
    • 2003, Owen Parry, Honor's Kingdom, page 365
      Thinking about those pounds and pence, I near forgot my wound.
    • 2004, Jimmy Buffett, A Salty Piece of Land page 315
      "I damn near forgot." He pulled an envelope from his jacket.
    • 2006, Juliet Marillier, The Dark Mirror, page 377
      The fire was almost dead, the chamber near dark.

Usage notesEdit

The sense of nearly or almost is dialect, colloquial, old-fashioned or poetic in certain uses, such as, in many cases, when near is used to directly modify a verb.

Derived termsEdit

TranslationsEdit

nearly; almost — see nearly,‎ almost

PrepositionEdit

near

  2. Physically close to, in close proximity to.
    There are habitable planets orbiting many of the stars near our Sun.
    • 1820, Mary Shelley, Maurice
      He entered the inn, and asking for dinner, unbuckled his wallet, and sat down to rest himself near the door.
    • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XVII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
      This time was most dreadful for Lilian. Thrown on her own resources and almost penniless, she maintained herself and paid the rent of a wretched room near the hospital by working as a charwoman, sempstress, anything.
    • 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.
    • 2013 August 16, John Vidal, “Dams endanger ecology of Himalayas”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 10, page 8:
      Most of the Himalayan rivers have been relatively untouched by dams near their sources. Now the two great Asian powers, India and China, are rushing to harness them as they cut through some of the world's deepest valleys.
  3. Close to in time.
    The voyage was near completion.
  4. Close to in nature or degree.
    His opinions are near the limit of what is acceptable.
    • 2019, Emma Lea, A Royal Enticement
      There was no way Brín felt anything anywhere near what I felt for him. He saw me as a friend.

Usage notesEdit

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. The use of to however is usually British.

AntonymsEdit

Derived termsEdit

TranslationsEdit

VerbEdit

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

  1. (transitive, intransitive) To come closer to; to approach.
    The ship nears the land.
    • 1964 May, Cecil J. Allen, “Locomotive Running Past and Present”, in Modern Railways, pages 331-332:
      We started back in the same conditions, and for part of the journey ran through semi-darkness, but the sun appeared once again as we neared London.
    • 2021 February 24, Greg Morse, “Great Heck: a tragic chain of events”, in RAIL, number 925, page 38:
      As he neared a bridge over the East Coast Main Line near Great Heck, he lost control. His Land Rover left the carriageway and veered onto the hard shoulder before biting into the grass verge.

TranslationsEdit

See alsoEdit

NounEdit

near (plural nears)

  1. The left side of a horse or of a team of horses pulling a carriage etc.
    Synonym: near side
    Antonym: off side

See alsoEdit

ReferencesEdit

AnagramsEdit

LatinEdit

PronunciationEdit

VerbEdit

near

  1. first-person singular present passive subjunctive of neō

LatvianEdit

VerbEdit

near

  1. 2nd person singular present indicative form of neart
  2. 3rd person singular present indicative form of neart
  3. 3rd person plural present indicative form of neart
  4. 2nd person singular imperative form of neart
  5. (with the particle lai) 3rd person singular imperative form of neart
  6. (with the particle lai) 3rd person plural imperative form of neart

Norwegian NynorskEdit

Alternative formsEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Old Norse niðar, nominative and accusative plural of nið f (“waning moon”).

NounEdit

near pl (definite plural neane)

  1. a lunar phase of an old moon, i.e. period of time in which the moon is waning
    Antonym: ny

ReferencesEdit

AnagramsEdit

YolaEdit

Alternative formsEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Middle English nevere, from Old English nǣfre.

AdverbEdit

near

  1. never

ReferencesEdit

  • Jacob Poole (1867), William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, page 59
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