near
Part of speech: adj
adv
prep
verb
noun
Morphological type: simple
Topics: computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
programming
sciences
Etymology: 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”).
Cognates
Cognate with North Frisian nai, noi, näi (“close, near”), Saterland Frisian nai (“close, near”), Dutch na (“close”), naar (“to, towards”), Dutch Low Saxon nao (“after”), German nach (“after”), nahe (“near”), näher (“nearer”), German Low German nao, nå (“towards”), Luxembourgish no (“after”), Danish, Faroese, Icelandic, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk nær (“close, near”), Swedish när, nära (“close, near”), Gothic 𐌽𐌴𐍈 (nēƕ, “close, near”). See also nigh.
Near appears to be derived from (or at the very least influenced by) the North Germanic languages; as opposed to nigh, which continues the inherited West Germanic adjective. Both, however, are ultimately derived from the same Proto-Germanic root: *nēhw (“near, close”).
Inflected forms:
form: nearer
pos: adj
tags: comparative
form: nearest
pos: adj
tags: superlative
form: nearer
pos: adv
tags: comparative
form: nearest
pos: adv
tags: superlative
form: nears
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: nearing
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: neared
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: neared
pos: verb
tags: past
form: nears
pos: noun
tags: plural
Senses:
gloss: Physically close.
pos: adj
examples: I can't see near objects very clearly without my glasses.
Stay near at all times.
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.
Without any ceremony the near man let drive at my throat with one of those beastly wavy daggers they go in for.
gloss: Close in time.
pos: adj
examples: The end is near.
We're getting near to Christmas.
gloss: Closely connected or related.
pos: adj
examples: The deceased man had no near relatives.
she is thy fathers neere kinswoman.
gloss: Close to one's interests, affection, etc.; intimate; dear.
pos: adj
examples: It is a matter of near consequence to me.
a near friend
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.
gloss: Close to anything followed or imitated; not free, loose, or rambling.
pos: adj
examples: a version near to the original
gloss: So as barely to avoid or pass injury or loss; close; narrow.
pos: adj
examples: a near escape
gloss: Approximate, almost.
pos: adj
examples: The two words are near synonyms.
gloss: On the side nearest to the kerb (the left-hand side if one drives on the left).
pos: adj
tags: UK
examples: The near front wheel came loose.
gloss: Next to the driver, when he is on foot; (US) on the left of an animal or a team.
pos: adj
tags: dated
examples: the near ox; the near leg
gloss: Immediate; direct; close; short.
pos: adj
tags: obsolete
examples: Toward ſolid good what leads the neareſt way;
gloss: Stingy; parsimonious.
pos: adj
tags: archaic
examples: Don't be near with your pocketbook.
[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.
gloss: Within the currently selected segment in a segmented memory architecture.
pos: adj
tags: not-comparable
examples: a near pointer
gloss: At or towards a position close in space or time.
pos: adv
gloss: Nearly; almost.
pos: adv
examples: He was near unconscious when I found him.
I jumped into the near-freezing water.
I near ruptured myself trying to move the piano.
[…] he hears for certain that the Queen-Mother is about and hath near finished a peace with France […]
Sir John Friend had very near completed a regiment of horse.
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.
Thinking about those pounds and pence, I near forgot my wound.
"I damn near forgot." He pulled an envelope from his jacket.
The fire was almost dead, the chamber near dark.
gloss: Physically close to, in close proximity to.
pos: prep
examples: There are habitable planets orbiting many of the stars near our Sun.
Ts'ai Ch'ien 蔡乾 was born in 1908 in Changhua near Taichung, Taiwan (Formosa).
He entered the inn, and asking for dinner, unbuckled his wallet, and sat down to rest himself near the door.
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.
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.
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.
gloss: Close to in time.
pos: prep
examples: The voyage was near completion.
gloss: Close to in nature or degree.
pos: prep
examples: His opinions are near the limit of what is acceptable.
There was no way Brín felt anything anywhere near what I felt for him. He saw me as a friend.
gloss: To come closer to; to approach.
pos: verb
tags: ambitransitive
examples: The ship nears the land.
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.
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.
gloss: The left side of a horse or of a team of horses pulling a carriage etc.
pos: noun
Synonyms: around the corner
citerior
close
close by
immediate
near
nearby
present
propinquitous
proximate
Antonyms: off
distant
far from
Related words: next
modicum
Derived words: as near as matters
Kingston near Lewes
nearable
nearabout
nearabouts
near abroad
near-antonym
near as a toucher
nearbout
nearby
nearcation
near-earth
near-Earth
Near East
nearest and dearest
near-fall
nearfall
near gale
nearhand
near infrared
nearish
Near Islands
near letter-quality
nearline
nearling
nearly
near miss
near-native
nearness
near ox
near real-time
near relative
near rhyme
Near Sawrey
nearshore
near space
near surface
near-surface
near-syncope
near the mark
nearwork
overnear
pertineer
unnear
unnearable
well-near
why is the ocean near the shore
near-minimal pair
near-sighted
near at hand
near-death experience
near-Earth object
near the knuckle
Translations: