near - Wiktionary, the free dictionary
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
From Middle English nere, ner, from Old English nēar (“nearer”, comparative of nēah (“nigh”), the superlative would become next), 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”).
- (Received Pronunciation) enPR: nîr; IPA(key): /nɪə̯(ɹ)/
- (Standard Southern British) IPA(key): /nɪː(ɹ)/
- (US) enPR: nîr; IPA(key): /nɪɚ/
- (General Australian) enPR: nîr; IPA(key): /nɪə̯/, [nɪː]
- (Canada) IPA(key): [niːɹ]
- (cheer–chair merger) IPA(key): /nɛə/
- Rhymes: -ɪə(ɹ)
near (comparative nearer, superlative nearest)
- Physically close.
- Synonym: close
- Antonym: remote
I can't see near objects very clearly without my glasses.
Stay near at all times.
1914, Irvin S. Cobb, Europe Revised:
At the end of the line nearest the Arch, under a flary light, stood an old bearded man having the look on his face of a kindly but somewhat irritated moo-cow.
- Close in time.
The end is near.
- Closely connected or related.
The deceased man had no near relatives.
- Close to one's interests, affection, etc.; intimate; dear.
A matter of near consequence to me.
a near friend
2017, Velvel Pasternak, Behind the Music, Stories, Anecdotes, Articles and Reflections, page 225:
The Besht preached that the simple man, imbued with native faith and able to pray fervently and wholeheartedly with a sense of joy in his heart, was nearer and dearer to God than the learned but joyless formalist spending his whole life in the study of Talmud.
- Close to anything followed or imitated; not free, loose, or rambling.
a version near to the original
- So as barely to avoid or pass injury or loss; close; narrow.
a near escape
- Approximate, almost.
The two words are near synonyms.
- (British, in relation to a vehicle) On the side nearest to the kerb (the left-hand side if one drives on the left).
- Antonym: off
The near front wheel came loose.
- (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
- (obsolete) Immediate; direct; close; short.
- (now rare) Stingy; parsimonious. [from 17th c.]
Don't be near with your pocketbook.
1782, [Frances Burney], chapter I, in Cecilia, or Memoirs of an Heiress. […], volume II, London: […] T[homas] Payne and Son […], and T[homas] Cadell […], →OCLC:
[T]o let you know, Miss, he's so near, it's partly a wonder how he lives at all: and yet he's worth a power of money, too.
- (programming, not comparable) Within the currently selected segment in a segmented memory architecture.
- Antonym: far
a near pointer
- Near was originally the comparative form of nigh; the superlative form was next. Nigh is used today mostly in archaic, poetic, or regional contexts.
- (physically close): see also Thesaurus:near
- (almost): nigh, quasi-
- (antonym(s) of “physically close”): see also Thesaurus:distant
- (antonym(s) of “side of an animal or vehicle”): off
- as near as matters
- Kingston near Lewes
- near abroad
- near-antonym
- near as a toucher
- near-earth, near-Earth
- Near East
- nearest and dearest
- near gale
- near infrared
- near letter-quality
- nearly
- near miss
- nearness
- near ox
- near real-time
- near relative
- near rhyme
- Near Sawrey
- near space
- near surface, near-surface
- near-syncope
- near the mark
- well-near
physically close
- Afrikaans: naby (af)
- Albanian: i afërt (sq) , Ngat (sq)(gheg)
- Arabic: قَرِيب (qarīb)
- Armenian: մոտ (hy) (mot), մոտիկ (hy) (motik), մերձ (hy) (merj)
- Aromanian: aproapea, aproapi
- Azerbaijani: yaxın (az)
- Bashkir: яҡын (yaqın)
- Belarusian: блі́зкі (blízki), блі́жні (blížni)
- Bikol Central: harani (bcl)
- Bouyei: jaec
- Brunei Malay: ampir, dakat
- Bulgarian: бли́зък (bg) (blízǎk), бли́жен (bg) (blížen)
- Burmese: နီး (my) (ni:)
- Catalan: a prop (ca)
- Cebuano: duol
- Central Sierra Miwok: háj·e-t
- Chinese:
- Czech: blízký (cs) m
- Danish: nær
- Dolgan: чугас
- Dutch: nabij (nl), dichtbij (nl)
- Erzya: маласонь (malasoń)
- Esperanto: proksima (eo), apuda
- Estonian: lähedal
- Finnish: läheinen (fi), lähellä oleva; lähellä (fi) (adverb)
- French: près (fr), proche (fr)
- Galician: preto (gl), próximo (gl)
- Georgian: ახლო (axlo), ახლოს (axlos), მახლობლად (maxloblad)
- German: nah (de)
- Gothic: 𐌽𐌴𐍈 (nēƕ)
- Greek:
- Ancient: πλησίος (plēsíos)
- Haitian Creole: pwòch
- Hebrew: קָרוֹב (he) (karóv)
- Higaonon: madani
- Hindi: निकट (hi) (nikaṭ), पास (hi) m (pās)
- Hungarian: (predicatively: adverb) közel (hu), (attributively: adjective) közeli (hu)
- Icelandic: skammt
- Ido: proxim (io)
- Indonesian: dekat (id)
- Iranun: marani
- Irish: dlúth
- Isan: please add this translation if you can
- Italian: vicino (it)
- Japanese: 近い (ja) (ちかい, chikai)
- Javanese: cedhak (jv)
- Kashubian: blisczi
- Kazakh: жақын (kk) (jaqyn)
- Khmer: ជិត (km) (cɨt)
- Korean: 가깝다 (ko) (gakkapda)
- Kumyk: ювукъ (yuwuq)
- Kurdish:
- Central Kurdish: نزیک (nzîk)
- Kyrgyz: жакын (ky) (jakın)
- Ladino: serka
- Lao: ໃກ້ (lo) (kai)
- Latgalian: tyvai, tiuli, kluot
- Latin: propinquus (la)
- Latvian: tuvu, klāt, tuvs
- Lithuanian: artimas
- Lü: ᦺᦂᧉ (k̇ay²)
- Macedonian: бли́зок (blízok)
- Malay: dekat (ms)
- Maltese: qrib (mt)
- Manchu: ᡥᠠᠨᠴᡳ (hanci)
- Mansaka: apit
- Maori: tūtata
- Mari:
- Eastern Mari: лишыл (ĺišyl)
- Moksha: мала (mala)
- Navajo: áhání
- Norwegian:
- Occitan: prèp (oc)
- Old Church Slavonic: ѩдѣ (jędě)
- Old English: nēah
- Ossetian: хӕстӕг (xæstæg)
- Ottoman Turkish: یاقین (yakın)
- Pashto: نږدې (niģde)
- Persian: نزدیک (fa) (nazdik), قریب (fa) (qarib), نزد (fa) (nazd)
- Polish: bliski (pl)
- Portuguese: perto (pt), próximo (pt)
- Punjabi: ਨੇੜੇ (neṛe) (standard), ਲਾਗੇ (lāge), ਕੋਲ਼ (koḷ)
- Romanian: aproape (ro)
- Russian: бли́зкий (ru) (blízkij), бли́жний (ru) (blížnij)
- Sanskrit: अन्तिक (sa) (antiká)
- Scottish Gaelic: dlùth, faisg
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Shan: please add this translation if you can
- Slovak: blízky
- Slovene: bližnji (sl)
- Sorbian:
- Lower Sorbian: bliski
- Southern Thai: แค
- Spanish: cercano (es), allegado (es)
- Sundanese: caket
- Swedish: nära (sv)
- Tagalog: malapit
- Tajik: наздик (tg) (nazdik), қариб (tg) (qarib)
- Tamil: please add this translation if you can
- Tatar: якын (tt) (yakın)
- Telugu: దగ్గర (te) (daggara)
- Tetum: besik
- Thai: ใกล้ (th) (glâi)
- Turkish: yakın (tr)
- Turkmen: ýakyn
- Tuvan: чоок (çook)
- Tày: ái
- Ukrainian: бли́зький (uk) (blýzʹkyj), бли́жній (uk) (blýžnij)
- Urdu: نزدیک (nazdīk)
- Uyghur: يېقىن (yëqin)
- Uzbek: yaqin (uz)
- Venetan: vissin
- Vietnamese: gần (vi)
- White Hmong: ze
- Woiwurrung: kyn'oo
- Yakut: чугас (cugas)
- Yiddish: נאָענט (noent)
- Zazaki: nezdi (diq)
- Zealandic: kortbie
- Zhuang: gaenh, gyawj
close in time
almost
on the side nearest to the kerb
Translations to be checked
- Bikol Central: (please verify) madali (bcl)
- French: (please verify) proche (fr)
- German: (please verify) nahe (de)
- Greek:
- Italian: (please verify) prossimo (it)
- Latin: (please verify) prope (la)
- Portuguese: (please verify) próximo (pt), (please verify) prestes (pt)
- Spanish: (please verify) próximo (es)
- Woiwurrung: (please verify) tang-an-doea
near (comparative nearer, superlative nearest)
- At or towards a position close in space or time. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
- 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, published 1867:
[…] he hears for certain that the Queen-Mother is about and hath near finished a peace with France […]
1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, 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.
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.
at or towards a position close in space or time
- Arabic: قَرِيبًا (qarīban)
- Aromanian: aproapea, aproapi
- Azerbaijani: yaxın (az)
- Bashkir: яҡын (yaqın)
- Basque: hur (eu)
- Belarusian: блі́зка (blízka)
- Bulgarian: близо (bg) (blizo)
- Catalan: a prop (ca)
- Chamicuro: a'lotsi'ta
- Chechen: уллохь (ulloḥʳ)
- Chinese:
- Dutch: nabij (nl), bij (nl), naverwant (nl), dierbaar (nl)
- Even: дали (dali)
- Evenki: дага (daga)
- Finnish: lähellä (fi), lähettyvillä (fi)
- French: près (fr)
- German: nah (de)
- Greek:
- Hebrew: קָרוֹב (he) m (karóv), קְרוֹבָה f (k'rová)
- Hindi: निकट (hi) (nikaṭ), पास (hi) m (pās)
- Hungarian: közel (hu)
- Ido: apud (io)
- Ingush: уллув (ulluv)
- Italian: circa (it)
- Japanese: 近く (ja) (ちかく, chikaku)
- Korean: 가까이 (ko) (gakkai)
- Kumyk: ювукъ (yuwuq)
- Kurdish:
- Central Kurdish: نزیک (nzîk)
- Latin: prope (la), propter, iuxta
- Latvian: tuvu
- Macedonian: бли́ску (blísku), бли́зу (blízu)
- Mirandese: acerca
- Navajo: áhání
- Old English: nēah, ġehende
- Pashto: نږدې (niģde)
- Persian: نزدیک (fa) (nazdik)
- Polish: blisko (pl)
- Portuguese: perto (pt)
- Russian: бли́зко (ru) (blízko)
- Serbo-Croatian: blizu (sh)
- Slovene: blízu (sl)
- Spanish: cerca (es)
- Telugu: దగ్గరగా (daggaragā), దగ్గరగుట (daggaraguṭa)
- Tocharian B: akarte
- Ukrainian: бли́зько (uk) (blýzʹko)
- Vietnamese: gần (vi)
near
- 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.
- Close to in time.
The voyage was near completion.
- 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.
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.
in close proximity to
- Arabic: بِٱلْقُرْب مِنَ (bi-l-qurb mina), عِنْدَ (ar) (ʕinda), قَرِيب مِنَ (qarīb mina), جَنْبَ (janba)
- Armenian: մոտ (hy) (mot)
- Belarusian: каля́ (kaljá), ля (lja)
- Bulgarian: бли́зо до (bg) (blízo do)
- Chinese:
- Czech: u (cs) (+ genitive case), blízko (cs)
- Dutch: nabij (nl), bij (nl)
- Esperanto: apud (eo)
- Finnish: lähellä (fi) (+ partitive case)
- French: près de (fr)
- German: neben (de), in der Nähe (+ genitive or von)
- Greek: κοντά (el) (kontá)
- Hindi: ... के पास (hi) (... ke pās), ... के नज़दीक (... ke nazdīk)
- Hungarian: -hoz/-hez/-höz közel, közelében (hu)
- Irish: in aice le
- Italian: vicino a
- Japanese: ...の近くに (ja) (... no chikaku ni)
- Khmer: ក្បែរ (km) (kbae)
- Korean: ...의 가까이에 (ko) (...ui gakkaie)
- Kurdish:
- Ladino: serka
- Latin: prope (la) (+ accusative), iuxta, circa, circiter
- Latvian: blakus
- Macedonian: до (do), кај (kaj), бли́зу до (blízu do)
- Malay: dekat dengan (ms)
- Ngazidja Comorian: kariɓu na
- Norman: près de (Guernsey)
- Ojibwe: jiig-
- Old English: nēah
- Persian: نزدیک (fa) (nazdik), کنار (fa) (kenâr-e)
- Polish: blisko (pl)
- Portuguese: perto de, próximo de
- Rapa Nui: hahine, tupuaki
- Russian: ря́дом с (ru) (rjádom s) (+ instrumental case), о́коло (ru) (ókolo) (+ genitive case), бли́зко к (ru) (blízko k) (+ dative case), во́зле (ru) (vózle) (+ genitive case), у (ru) (u) (+ genitive case)
- Scottish Gaelic: faisg air, goirid do
- Slovak: pri, blízko
- Spanish: cerca de (es)
- Swedish: i närheten av
- Telugu: దగ్గర (te) (daggara), అన్యోన్యము (te) (anyōnyamu)
- Thai: ใกล้ (th) (glâi)
- Turkish: yakınında, yakın (tr)
- Ukrainian: бі́ля (uk) (bílja)
- Urdu: ... کے پاس (... ke pās), ... کے نزدیک (... ke nazdīk)
- Vietnamese: gần (vi)
- Volapük: nilü (vo)
- Welsh: ger (cy), ar bwys
close to in nature or degree
near (third-person singular simple present nears, present participle nearing, simple past and past participle neared)
- (ambitransitive) 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.
come closer to
- Arabic: قَرُبَ (qaruba)
- Hijazi Arabic: قَرَّب (garrab)
- Armenian: մոտեցնել (hy) (motecʻnel)
- Bikol Central: rani (bcl)
- Bulgarian: приближавам се (približavam se)
- Catalan: apropar (ca), aproximar (ca)
- Czech: blížit se impf
- Dutch: naderen (nl), dichterbijkomen
- Finnish: lähestyä (fi), lähentyä (fi)
- French: approcher (fr)
- German: sich nähern (de)
- Gothic: 𐌽𐌴𐍈𐌾𐌰𐌽 (nēƕjan)
- Hindi: नज़दीक आना (nazdīk ānā)
- Hungarian: megközelít (hu)
- Icelandic: nálgast
- Italian: avvicinare (it)
- Japanese: 近付く (ja) (ちかづく, chikazuku)
- Kurdish:
- Central Kurdish: نزیک بوونەوە (nzîk bûnewe)
- Macedonian: се прибли́жува (se priblížuva), се бли́жи (se blíži), се добли́жува (se doblížuva), се набли́жува (se nablížuva)
- Ottoman Turkish: یاقینلاشمق (yakınlaşmak)
- Persian: نزدیک شدن (nazdik šodan)
- Portuguese: aproximar (pt)
- Russian: приближа́ться (ru) impf (približátʹsja), бли́зиться (ru) impf (blízitʹsja), прибли́зиться (ru) (priblízitʹsja)
- Sanskrit: आचरति (sa) (ācarati)
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Roman: blížiti se (sh) pf, približávati se (sh) impf
- Spanish: aproximar (es), acercar (es)
- Ugaritic: 𐎖𐎗𐎁 (qrb)
near (plural nears)
- The left side of a horse or of a team of horses pulling a carriage etc.
- “near”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
- Joan Maling (1983), Transitive Adjectives: A Case of Categorial Reanalysis, in F. Henry and B. Richards (eds.), Linguistic Categories: Auxiliaries and Related Puzzles, vol.1, pp. 253-289.
- (Classical Latin) IPA(key): /ˈne.ar/, [ˈneär]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈne.ar/, [ˈnɛːär]
near
near
- inflection of neart:
- (with the particle lai) third-person singular imperative of neart
- (with the particle lai) third-person plural imperative of neart
- ne n
From Old Norse niðar, nominative and accusative plural of nið f (“waning moon”).
near pl (definite plural neane)
- a lunar phase of an old moon, i.e. period of time in which the moon is waning
- Antonym: ny
- “ne” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
nēar
From Middle English næver, from Old English nǣfre.
near
- never
1867, “THE WEDDEEN O BALLYMORE”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, page 93:
A near a haapney to paay a peepeare.
- Had ne'er a halfpenny to pay the piper.
- Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) 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, published 1867, page 59