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单词 near
释义

nearadj.n.

Brit. /nɪə/, U.S. /nɪ(ə)r/
Forms: Middle English neir (chiefly northern), Middle English–1500s ner, Middle English–1600s neare, Middle English–1600s neere, Middle English–1600s nere, Middle English–1600s (1900s– English regional (northern)) neer, 1500s nir, 1500s– near, 1600s neire; U.S. regional (chiefly southern and south Midland) 1800s– nearder (comparative), 1800s– neardest (superlative); Scottish pre-1700 neer, pre-1700 neere, pre-1700 neir, pre-1700 ner, pre-1700 nere, pre-1700 neyr, pre-1700 nier, pre-1700 nir, pre-1700 1700s– near, 1800s– nearder (south-western, comparative), 1800s– neardher (south-western, comparative); also Irish English (northern) 1900s– nearder (comparative), 1900s– neardest (superlative), 1900s– neardher (comparative), 1900s– neardhest (superlative), 1900s– nearther (comparative), 1900s– nearthest (superlative).
Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: near adv.2
Etymology: < near adv.2 Compare earlier nar adj.Comparative and superlative forms in -d-, -dh-, -th- are probably after farther adj., farthest adj. (compare forms s.vv.).
Chiefly in attributive use.
1. With reference to family relationships: loosely related by blood or kinship. Also as n. (with the and plural agreement): †close relations as a class (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > [adjective] > closely
nareOE
nighOE
neara1375
necessarya1382
germanea1449
native1488
near of kin1491
tender1508
near akinc1515
cousin1590
affine1614
own1671
tight-knit1832
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) 584 (MED) One..was a digne damisele..& komen of hire oune kin, he [read here] kosin ful nere.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) 20068 Sant iohan, Þat was his sibe ner kines-man.
a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll. 13) (1990) I. 114 She was hys cosyne nere.
1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries Apol. sig. NNnvv It shall styre vp fyre also amonges the nere of bloud.
1611 Bible (King James) Lev. xviii. 17 They are her neere kinsewomen. View more context for this quotation
1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan ii. xix. 101 A man receives..the most honour from the greatnesse of his neerest kindred.
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 23. ¶1 To raise Uneasiness among near Relations.
1765 T. Hutchinson Hist. Colony Massachusets-Bay, 1628–91 (ed. 2) ii. 258 A near kinswoman of Sir William Bird.
1840 T. Arnold Hist. Rome II. xxxi. 218 The sons or near relations of the most influential members of the senate.
1932 E. Bowen To North xxvi. 286 But she is Robert's near relative, virtually his ward.
1960 C. Day Lewis Buried Day i. 18 I seldom asked my father..about our relations near or distant.
1988 J. Heller Picture This ii. 20 Both she and Rembrandt had been dubbed extravagant by a near relation of hers.
2. With reference to space or position: close at hand; not distant. Also (in superlative) as n.: the closest person or thing.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > distance > nearness > [adjective]
yhendeeOE
nighOE
hendc1175
nearc1400
propinquec1487
assisting1579
neighbour1579
propinquant1633
near-acquainted1639
indistant1644
nearhand1653
adjourning1816
propinquousa1832
nearby1858
propinquitous1867
c1400 Bk. to Mother (Bodl.) 3 (MED) A nere bipath þat semeth streit to hem þat litel sauour or loue haueth of God..is forte holde Gods counseyles.
c1425 Bk. Found. St. Bartholomew's (1923) 63 (MED) Ther were neir howsys right nygh by the whiche all were consumyd and turnyd yn-to Asshys.
1520 W. More Jrnl. (1913) 113 Of store yeles that was putt in to ye nere parke poole at grymley.
1565 T. Stapleton tr. Bede Hist. Church Eng. ii. xiv. f. 68v For that was the next nere water, which he could conueniently vse for baptism.
1600 J. Pory tr. J. Leo Africanus Geogr. Hist. Afr. Introd. 27 Wilde Negros, who..utterly misliked their so neere neighbourhood.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost i. 192 Satan talking to his neerest Mate. View more context for this quotation
1709 G. Berkeley Ess. New Theory of Vision §16. 9 When we look at a near Object with both Eyes.
1752 tr. E. F. Gersaint Catal. Etchings Rembrandt 115 On the Near-Ground, at the Bottom of the Print is a Globe.
1820 J. Keats Ode to Nightingale in Lamia & Other Poems 112 Thy plaintive anthem fades Past the near meadows.
1833 H. Martineau Loom & Lugger ii. ii. 19 Those whose near residence tempted to an acquaintance.
1864 C. Dickens Our Mutual Friend (1865) I. i. xiv. 133 I'll find the nearest of our men to come and take charge of him.
1925 J. Conrad Suspense i. i. 4 The nearest prominent object..was the imposing shape of an English line-of-battle ship.
1969 R. Smith Cape Breton Thought Control Centre Canada 26 In the near distance, several lines of new smoke-stacks puff their evidence of Poland's stable and bullish economy.
2000 Times 28 Dec. i. 36/1 The lurking Davies, who ran on to the ball and rounded the goalkeeper only to hit his shot past the near post.
3.
a. Designating something on the left-hand side of an animal (esp. a horse) or a vehicle. Opposed to †far, off. Cf. nearside adj. 3. Now rare.This use is based on the fact that horses and cattle are commonly mounted, led, or approached from the left-hand side, which is consequently the one near to the person dealing with them. It is possible that the adjective here originally had a comparative force (from near adv.1).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > animal body > general parts > body and limbs > [adjective] > of the left side
neara1453
nearside1723
a1453 in J. T. Fowler Mem. Abbey St. Mary of Fountains (1918) III. 102 (MED) One younge whyte mare burned on the neare buttock with ‘A.C.’ stolne frome Vncerbie the xxx of september laste.
1559 Will of John Hilde (P.R.O.: PROB. 11/42B) f. 329 A filly..with a white nere foote behinde.
1578 in W. H. Turner Select. Rec. Oxf. (1880) 396 One grey..mare,..the neare ie walled.
1610 J. Guillim Display of Heraldrie iii. xxvii. 184 A Horse..Spanceled on both legs of the neerer side.
a1642 H. Best Farming & Memorandum Bks. (1984) 13 To runne the edge of the botte downe the neare liske.
1707 London Gaz. No. 4325/4 A Nanberry on the inside of the near Leg.
1764 Museum Rusticum 2 xiv. 52 To drive the cart so as the off-wheel should go in the same tract that the near wheel went in before.
1766 Compl. Farmer at Walk Just as he is setting down his far fore-foot, he lifts up his near hind-foot.
1842 Act 5 & 6 Victoria c. 79 §17 The track of the left or near wheel.
1884 E. L. Anderson Mod. Horsemanship i. ii. 7 To mount without stirrups the rider should stand facing the near shoulder of the horse.
1953 G. Brooke Introd. Riding & Stablecraft i. 15 Come up quietly..from the front towards his near (left) shoulder.
b. Designating the left-hand horse or ox in a team. Cf. nearside n. 1. Now rare (chiefly U.S. regional).
ΚΠ
?1611 G. Chapman tr. Homer Iliads xxiii. 316 Thy neare horse..yet..gaue Thy skill the prise.
1756 F. Greville & F. Greville Maxims, Characters, & Refl. 22 The poor boy..whipped up the off instead of the near horse.
1841 C. Dickens Barnaby Rudge lix. 277 One..who sat postilion-wise upon the near horse.
1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Colonial Reformer (1891) 188 The near leader dashed round the back of the coach.
1949 H. Kurath Word Geogr. Eastern U.S. 66 The left horse of a (plow) team is known as the near-horse (near-side horse) in a large area extending from the Connecticut River to the Potomac and the Kanawha.
1950 J. Stuart Hie to Hunters 187 Old Dinah is the near mule when ye have 'em in the britchen [i.e. breeching].
1966 R. F. Dakin Dial. Vocab. Ohio River Valley II. 292 Ohio usually has near-horse (rarely nearside horse), and this is the regular term in Indiana north and east of the hill triangle.
1969 L. G. Sorden Lumberjack Lingo 80 Near ox, the left ox of a team of oxen.
4.
a. Narrowly achieved, barely effected; narrowly decided, closely contested. Frequently in to be a near thing.† near run n. Obsolete a near escape.
ΚΠ
c1475 Mankind (1969) 617 I was twychyde by þe neke;..þe halter brast asonder... The halff ys abowte my neke; we hade a nere rune!
1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew Narrow, narrow or near search or Escape.
1752 H. Fielding Amelia IV. xi. ii. 123 You certainly know..how hard Colonel Trompington is run at your Town, in the Election of a Mayor; they tell me it will be a very near Thing, unless you join us.
1856 G. J. Whyte-Melville Kate Coventry i It was a near race.
1860 W. H. Russell My Diary in India 1858–9 II. 396 Long chases and near escapes.
1894 E. Œ. Somerville & ‘M. Ross’ Real Charlotte II. xxiii. 120 ‘That was a near thing,’ remarked Mr. Hawkins complacently, as a slight grating sound told that they had grazed one of these smooth-backed monsters.
1930 W. Gibson Hazards 8 A near thing! But he caught the plane: 'twas well He did not miss it.
1964 D. Varaday Gara-Yaka xxi. 190 When one moving coil lashed over the crocodile's head, Mulembe snapped at it with spiky-toothed jaws which almost bit through... It was a near thing for the snake.
1973 C. Bonington Next Horizon xix. 261 Twenty-four hours later the shock of my near-escape really hit me, and manifested itself mainly in a sense of horror at letting down my family.
1991 R. R. McCammon Boy's Life i. iii. 35 I came very close to wetting my pants. Somehow I held my water, but it was a near thing.
b. Close to a goal, target, or object, or a perceived model, etc. Cf. near go n., near miss n. at Compounds 1.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > attention > [adjective]
carefulc1050
soignous1340
mindfula1382
tentivec1386
presentc1395
attendant1432
tendable?c1450
advicefulc1454
thoughtyc1480
neara1500
respective1525
heedful1548
heedy1548
prick-eared?1550
attendable1552
attentive1577
tentible1603
observative1609
unpreoccupied1643
advertent1646
presential1652
inspectivea1684
tent1789
attentful-
the mind > mental capacity > belief > conjecture, guessing > [adjective] > of a guess: close to the truth
shrewd1588
near1662
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > meaning > explanation, exposition > interpretation > [adjective] > exact, accurate
perfect1523
near1662
strict1842
the world > relative properties > relationship > similarity > [adjective] > approximating or approaching
approximant1641
approximate1646
proximate1657
near1685
proximal1727
nudging1796
warm1860
approaching1874
a1500 (c1425) Andrew of Wyntoun Oryg. Cron. Scotl. (Nero) viii. l. 5498 Qwhar þai had oft nere schutynge.
1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 9 He then had a neerer eye to the Lordes..and kept them a little strayter.
1662 J. Davies tr. A. Olearius Voy. & Trav. J. Albert de Mandelslo 146 in Voy. & Trav. Ambassadors Having weighed one parcel, so as they may have a near guess at the rest.
1683 in W. R. Scott Rec. Sc. Cloth Manufactory New Mills (1905) 46 That the rents and too near shearings of some cloth lately sent in be prevented in time coming.
1685 J. Dryden Sylvæ Pref. sig. A6 The nearest, the most Poetical..of any Translation of the Æneids.
1783 B. Vaughan Let. 31 Jan. in B. Franklin Autobiogr. (1981) App. 4. 187 The nearest thing to having experience of one's own, is to have other people's affairs brought before us in a shape that is interesting.
1827 Sporting Mag. 21 47 Some Christchurch men remember that go, and how near a go it was!
1866 A. Halliday Mugby Junction v, in All Year Round Extra Christmas No., 10 Dec. 27/1 The next instant the hind coach passed my engine by a shave. It was the nearest touch I ever saw.
1894 J. D. Astley Fifty Years of my Life I. 77 Accomplishing the distance..with equally remarkable near shaves of a collision.
1945 E. Bowen Demon Lover 178 Her cretonne house-coat, the nearest thing to a hostess gown that she had.
1988 Economist 31 Oct. 120/3 The nearest equivalents to the high-priced originals are the so-called ‘florists' tulips’ still bred by enthusiasts.
†5. Close, enclosed, narrow, cramped. Also figurative. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > breadth or width > lack of breadth or narrowness > [adjective]
nareeOE
narrowOE
smallOE
straitc1400
near1493
unthick1587
pinching1607
widthless1813
shoestring1878
1493 Tretyse of Loue (de Worde) sig. Avj Yt was so streyght there wher folkis vsed to go and cum that they shulde haue hurte hym wyth their feete the way was so nere there.
c1500 Lawys of Schippis (Harl.) c. 16 A schip or tua ar in a neir [c1400 Bute narow] havin.
1548 N. Udall et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. I. Matt. i. 3 b In this nere & narowe poynt betwene seruitute & libertie.
6.
†a. Of access: direct, immediate, unimpeded. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > easiness > [adjective] > not hindering or encumbering > not hindered or encumbered
freeeOE
unletted?a1425
unimpeachedc1430
frank1481
nearc1520
untangled1539
unclogged1548
uncumbered1551
unprevented1572
cumberless1581
unentangleda1586
undebarred1595
unstayed1600
disencumbered1611
unhindered1615
unretarded1615
unstopped1621
unobstructed1648
unengaged1653
extricated1657
unbeclogged1674
unhampered1702
unembarrassed1708
unencumbered1722
unstemmed1732
disembarrassed1741
unstifled1742
unimpeded1760
smooth1792
untrammelled1795
unintercepted1814
unmired1834
frictionless1848
unsmothereda1849
unbalked1888
unlocked1890
c1520 M. Nisbet New Test. in Scots (1903) II. Rom. v. 2 Be quham we haue nere gaing to.
1593 Ld. Essex in Bacon's Wks. (1862) VIII. 254 She [sc. Queen Elizabeth] should precipitate too much from being highly displeased with you, to give you near access.
1686 J. Scott Christian Life: Pt. II II. 521 Such near and close access to his most holy Majesty.
1711 J. Swift Misc. Prose & Verse 193 Might not those of..nearer access to her majesty receive her own commands, and be countenanced or disfavoured according as they obey?
b. Of a road, a way, etc.: short, direct. Chiefly in comparative and superlative. See also cut n.2 16c.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, path, or track > [adjective] > of roads or directions: straight, direct
gaina1000
evenc1175
readyc1330
graith1352
nigh1516
right1567
near1579
forerighta1640
bain1864
1579 E. Spenser Shepheardes Cal. July 96 Yet nearer wayes I knowe.
1590 J. White Fifth Voy. in R. Hakluyt Princ. Navigations (1600) III. 289 Betweene these two Ilands we lay off and on 4 or 5 dayes, hoping to take some of the Domingo fleete doubling the Iland, as a neerer way to Spaine then by Cape Tyburon, or by Cape S. Anthony.
1663 E. Hickeringill Apol. Distressed Innocence in Wks. (1709) I. 292 By pretending..a nearer cut than going up to Hierusalem.
a1719 J. Addison Dialogues Medals in Wks. (1721) I. i. 440 It is a pity indeed there is not a nearer way of coming at it.
1801 ‘Gabrielli’ Mysterious Husband II. 116 I presume..the road we came is a nearer cut.
1885 Act 48 & 49 Victoria c. 54 §14 Within four miles of one another by the nearest road.
1914 J. Cranna Fraserburgh 66 The postrunner..would gravitate to the links for ‘a near cut’.
1982 E. D. Powers & M. E. Hannah Cataloochee 248 My father built a near way from the old Indian trail that's on that map now..a near way coming off to the Grooms Boys Branch from the Asbury Trail.
7.
a. With reference to time: close at hand; impending.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > relative time > the future or time to come > [adjective] > imminent, near, or at hand
towardc890
comingOE
at handc1175
hendc1175
hendc1175
short?a1400
likec1425
near present?c1450
hangingc1503
instant?1520
neara1522
approachinga1525
imminent1528
provenient1554
threatened1567
near-threateninga1586
eminent1587
impendenta1592
sudden1597
ensuing1603
dependenta1616
pending1642
incumbent1646
early1655
fast-approaching1671
impendinga1686
incoming1753
pendent1805
proximatea1831
simmering1843
pending1850
invenient1854
looming1855
forthcoming1859
near-term1929
upcoming1959
a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid (1957) iv. xii. 3 The bludy eyn rollyng in hir hed, wan and ful paill for feir of the neir ded.
1763 F. Brooke Hist. Lady Julia Mandeville II. 109 The near prospect of your tasting the poison most fatal to youth, the intoxicating cup of prosperity.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. v. 617 The near prospect of reward animated the zeal of the troops.
1867 Sci. Amer. 6 July 3/1 The subject of type writing is one of the interesting aspects of the near future.
1885 Manch. Examiner 15 May 5/7 A thing of the near future.
1914 E. R. Burroughs Tarzan of Apes xxviii. 397 She knew that she must be prepared to give him an answer in the very near future.
1973 C. Sagan Cosmic Connection (1975) viii. 61 There are many possible viewpoints on the present and near-future costs of space science.
1986 N.Y. Post 9 July 8 Grace LeVine Packer and her sister-in-law Victoria LeVine are both expecting in the near soon—as they say in Philadelphia when they can't think of anything else to say.
b. Stock Market. Of a commodity future or option contract: that matures in the near future. Cf. near month adj. and n. at Compounds 1.
ΚΠ
1901 Jrnl. Royal Statist. Soc. 64 595 A rise or fall in the price of near futures..is thus accompanied by a corresponding rise or fall..in more distant futures.
1928 Q. Jrnl. Econ. 42 373 [Futures markets] tend to put a price on the futures that is below a proper parity with spot grain (and spot cotton); also on the more distant futures as compared with the near futures.
1981 Times 23 Mar. 13/1 There was aggressive selling of near cocoa in London and New York, which forced March cocoa down by £33 a tonne... But May cocoa was stronger.
1993 C. Sutcliffe Stock Index Futures (BNC) 154 At the delivery of the near contract, the index basket of shares was bought and held until the delivery of the middle contract.
8.
†a. Of a person: closely attached to, very intimate or familiar with, another. Of friendship, etc.: close, intimate, familiar. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > love > friendliness > [adjective] > intimate or familiar > closely associated or acquainted
fastOE
specialc1390
near1523
inward1535
close1577
particular1588
lié1855
solid1882
the mind > emotion > love > friendliness > [adjective] > intimate or familiar > (of friendship) intimate
near1523
straita1533
narrow1556
1523 T. Cromwell Speech to Parl. in R. B. Merriman Life & Lett. T. Cromwell (1902) I. 35 By the mowthe of hys most nere and cheffest Counsaylour.
1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. ccxlixv For a nerer frendship, the lady Elenore..was promised freely to my eldest sonne.
1576 A. Fleming tr. Sulpicius in Panoplie Epist. 22 Your neere friends and familiar companions.
1621 J. Fletcher et al. Trag. of Thierry & Theodoret ii. i. sig. C2 Princely Sonne; And in this worthy of a neere name.
1629 J. Wadsworth Eng. Spanish Pilgrime vi. 51 Hee had a brother a neere retainer to his Highnesse of Wales.
1652 M. Nedham tr. J. Selden Of Dominion of Sea Ep. Ded. 16 All overtures of Amitie and nearest alliance.
1702 N. Rowe Tamerlane i. i A Slave, of near Attendance on his Person.
1802 J. Farington Diary 6 Sept. (1923) II. iv. 15 The most guarded expressions only were uttered even before near friends.
1887 C. Bowen tr. Virgil Æneid ii, in tr. Virgil in Eng. Verse 113 I was his comrade near and companion.
b. nearest and dearest: very closely related or intimate; occasionally also near and dear. Now frequently as n.: one's closest relatives and friends considered together (with plural agreement). Cf. near adv.2 8, 17.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > love > [noun] > love between kinsmen > closest or most beloved relatives and friends
nearest and dearest1598
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > relations or kindred > [noun] > close relations
one's (own) fleshc1000
flesh and blood1393
nearest and dearest1598
1598 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 1 iii. ii. 123 Why Harry do I tell thee of my foes, Which art my nearest and dearest enemy? View more context for this quotation
1610 J. Chamberlain Let. 23 Jan. (1939) I. 296 The neerest and deerest frends he hath know not what to guesse of this humor.
1654 R. Loveday tr. G. de Costes de La Calprenède Hymen's Præludia: 2nd Pt. ii. 124 The nearest and dearest friends I had.
1781 G. Crabbe Let. Feb.–Mar. in Sel. Lett. & Jrnls. (1985) i. 5 My Existence is a Pain to me, & every one near & dear to me are distress'd in my Distresses.
1781 T. Pasley Jrnl. 13 Mar. in Private Sea Jrnls. (1931) 123 Early I bid adieu to my nearest and dearest connections.
1819 W. Scott Bride of Lammermoor xii, in Tales of my Landlord 3rd Ser. I. 324 This is what I little expected to have seen of you, that ye suld give rein to your sinful passions against your nearest and your dearest.
1822 T. Creevey Let. 23 Dec. in J. Gore Creevey Papers (1963) xi. 186 Brougham arrived here on Saturday, on his way..to his nearest and dearest.
1839 C. Dickens Let. 21 Jan. (1965) I. 493 For those who are nearest and dearest to me I can realise little more than a genteel subsistence.
1926 F. M. Ford Man could stand Up i. ii. 38 Look how you let in your nearest and dearest—those who have to sympathise with you.
1959 J. Burke Echo of Barbara ix. 92 One never does know much about one's nearest and dearest.
1975 ‘C. Aird’ Slight Mourning iv. 42 It's always family or friends who do you in... Nearest and dearest, that's who it'll be.
1988 M. Moorcock Mother London ii. 121 Black is for one's nearest and dearest.
9. Niggardly, stingy, mean.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > retaining > niggardliness or meanness > [adjective]
gnedec900
gripplea1000
fastOE
narrow-hearteda1200
narrow?c1225
straitc1290
chinchc1300
nithinga1325
scarcec1330
clama1340
hard1340
scantc1366
sparingc1386
niggardc1400
chinchy?1406
retentivea1450
niggardousa1492
niggish1519
unliberal1533
pinching1548
dry1552
nigh1555
niggardly1560
churlish1566
squeamish1566
niggardish1567
niggard-like1567
holding1569
spare1577
handfast1578
envious1580
close-handed1585
hard-handed1587
curmudgeonly1590
parsimonious?1591
costive1594
hidebound1598
penny-pinching1600
penurious1600
strait-handed1600
club-fisted1601
dry-fisted1604
fast-handed1605
fast-fingered1607
close-fisted1608
near1611
scanting1613
carkingc1620
illiberal1623
clutch-fisteda1634
hideboundeda1640
clutch-fista1643
clunch-fisted1644
unbounteous1645
hard-fisted1646
purse-bound1652
close1654
stingy1659
tenacious1676
scanty1692
sneaking1696
gripe-handed1698
narrow-souled1699
niggardling1704
snippy1727
unindulgent1742
shabby1766
neargoinga1774
cheesemongering1781
split-farthing1787
save-all1788
picked1790
iron-fisted1794
unhandsome1800
scaly1803
nearbegoing1805
tight1805
nippit1808
nipcheese1819
cumin-splitting1822
partan-handed1823
scrimping1823
scrumptious1823
scrimpy1825
meanly1827
skinny1833
pinchfisted1837
mean1840
tight-fisted1843
screwy1844
stinty1849
cheeseparing1857
skinflinty1886
mouly1904
mingy1911
cheapskate1912
picey1937
tight-assed1961
chintzy1964
tightwad1976
1611 J. Maxwell tr. Treasure of Tranquillity 98 There was in former times, a certain rich wretch, who..was so niggardish and neare.
1616 R. Carpenter Christs Larvmbell 49 in Pastoral Charge Cold comfort, a neere hand, a needy reward.
a1656 J. Hales Serm. at Eton (1673) ii. 20 A near and hard and hucking chapman shall never buy good flesh.
1712 R. Steele Spectator No. 402. ¶4 I always thought he lived in a near Manner.
1753 M. Delany Autobiogr. & Corr. (1861) III. 208 A good-natured man, but reckoned near.
1824 M. M. Sherwood Waste Not i. 11 She is mighty near, and there is but one fire and candle between them.
1874 T. Hardy Far from Madding Crowd II. xix. 222 Some were beginning to consider Oak a near man.
1937 V. Woolf Years 58 He was a little near about money.
a1978 S. T. Warner One Thing leading to Another (1985) 71 How did she come by it, that's what I want to know. She never bought it; she's too near to spend all that money.
†10. Closely affecting or touching a person. Also (in superlative) as n. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > aspects of emotion > quality of affecting the emotions > [adjective]
ruefulc1225
pathetical1563
touchinga1586
imprintingc1592
moving1594
pathetic1598
neara1616
affectivea1639
affectuous1664
tenderingc1694
affecting1703
tender1705
emotive1847
a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) iii. i. 119 Euery minute of his being, thrusts Against my neer'st of Life. View more context for this quotation
1642 J. March Argument Militia 2 It is a more neare and immediate offence against the King.
1701 J. Norris Ess. Ideal World I. vi. 378 It was of nearer consequence to Archimedes.
1775 S. Johnson Taxation no Tyranny 9 Eagerness for the nearest good.
11. to the nearest —— (with a word or phrase specifying a unit of measurement): with the degree of precision indicated by the unit.Usually with the implication that the precision might be greater, and some approximation or rounding is involved; occasionally, with the implication that the precision is as great as that stated.
ΚΠ
1831 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 121 379 The time of high water..[is noted] generally only to the nearest five minutes.
1871 W. Donaldson Switches & Crossings v. 131 The value of the denominator will be sufficiently exact if it be put equal to the nearest integer.
1931 C. E. Munroe & J. E. Tiffany Physical Testing Explosives 23 The wrapper of each cartridge, including the paraffin coating, should be weighed to the nearest one-tenth gram.
1951 Engineering 18 May 589/1 He was able to measure the thickness correct to the nearest Ångstrom.
1998 E. Bignell Which? Way to save & Invest (ed. 10) xvi. 259 Stamp duty... It is 0.5 per cent of what you pay for the shares (rounded up to the nearest £50).
†12. Of clothing: worn close to the body, closely cut. Obsolete. rare.
ΚΠ
1889 Harper's Mag. Aug. 485/1 When his suit of clothes wore out, he used to borrow mine..leaving me in the office alone with..a suit of very ‘near’ underwear.

Compounds

C1. In the sense ‘situated nearby’, ‘within close proximity’, ‘easily accessible’.
near abroad n. (also Near Abroad) [after Russian bližnee zarubež′e (A. Kozyrev 1992, in Izvestija (morning ed.) 2 Jan. 1)] (a collective term for) the independent republics, formerly part of the U.S.S.R., which border or lie close to Russia.
ΚΠ
1992 tr. A. Kozyrev in Summary of World Broadcasts Pt. 1: Former U.S.S.R. (B.B.C.) 4 Jan. SU/1269/A1/1 What is taking shape around us is something that could probably be called the ‘near’ abroad. The ‘former’ fraternal republics..have chosen, just like Russia, the path of independent development.
1995 Economist 19 Aug. 38/1 The explanation seems to be that, while Russia may support separatism briefly in the near abroad, the joys of doing so soon pall.
2000 N.Y. Times 31 Dec. iv. 5/3 With the end of the cold war, the United Nations refugee commissioner..had to deal with new problems in the former Soviet Union, as Russians from the ‘near abroad’ tried to return.
near-cash n. = near money n.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > money > medium of exchange or currency > paper money > promissory notes or bills of exchange > [noun]
credit1662
paper1704
commercial paper1836
stamped paper1847
near money1936
near-cash1937
1937 Daily Herald 20 Jan. 10/2 In spite of these big increases in cash or near-cash assets, the Bank has been able to make advances to the extent of £125,249,310.
1964 Financial Times 3 Mar. 14/2 At December 31, 1962, cash and near-cash totalled some £567,000.
2001 Oil & Gas Investor (Nexis) Aug. 16–7 When they sell to a U.S. company, it's almost always for cash or near-cash.
near collision n. a situation in which a crash (esp. one between aircraft) is narrowly avoided; = near miss n. (b).
ΚΠ
1852 Hampshire Tel. 30 Oct. 8/6 Allusion had been made to a near collision with a vessel at Spithead, but this was the first time it had been insinuated that the captain was intoxicated at the time.
1882 Manufacturer & Builder Mar. 51/3 To avoid the loss of life in near collisions by making the last car of a train purely a safety one.
1931 Science 74 14/1 The careless flyer who is always having real or near collisions in the air.
2001 Daily Record (Glasgow) (Electronic ed.) 29 June The near collision happened at St Mary Clay rail junction in the east end of London on Wednesday.
near-earth adj. Astronomy situated or occurring close to the earth, spec. designating an asteroid or comet in an orbit that nearly intersects that of the earth (and so may one day collide with the planet).
ΚΠ
1958 Science 18 July 125 (caption) Secular changes in the orbits of near-earth satellites.
1979 Nature 5 Apr. 503/1 Data on the characteristics of the near-earth radiation environment.
1994 Science 17 Dec. 11/3 The astronomers detected the asteroid..as part of their Spacewatch programme, a systematic search for near-Earth objects.
† nearest akin n. Obsolete = next akin n. at next adj., adv., and n. Compounds 3.
ΚΠ
1602 T. Lodge tr. Josephus Wks. 252 Taking his wife and his neerest akin with him, he deliuered them into the hands of the captaines.
1724 T. Salmon Crit. Ess. conc. Marriage 293 The Tonquinese do not marry without Consent of their Parents, or nearest Akin.
nearest neighbour n. chiefly Statistics and Crystallography (a) n. the member of a series or array nearest to that being considered; (b) adj. of or relating to nearest neighbours.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > probability or statistics > [noun] > groups or arrangements of data > relating to rank or order
rank1883
nearest neighbour1884
rank difference1904
rank correlation1907
1884 Science 5 Sept. 204/2 This..does not prove ultimate attraction between two molecules..at distances much less than the average mutual distance of nearest neighbors in the multitude.
1893 Proc. Royal Soc. 54 61 Each crystalline molecule..experiences forcive from some of its nearest neighbours on two sides.
1937 Jrnl. Appl. Physics 8 654/1 In a liquid the number of nearest neighbors and the interatomic distances are roughly the same as in the crystalline material.
1972 Computers & Humanities 7 40 The statistical analysis of pattern in such horizontal distributions is another area to which some attention is now being given, with nearest-neighbour analysis the most frequently adopted method.
1990 Behavioral Ecol. 1 39/1 Nearest neighbor distances were significantly greater than expected under random dispersion of occupied squares.
near go n. colloquial a situation in which disaster, danger, etc., is narrowly avoided; a close shave; (later also) a situation in which a favourable or successful outcome is narrowly missed.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > safety > escape > [noun] > narrow
rub and go1790
touch and go1816
squeak1822
near go1826
close shave1834
a near (also close) toucher1844
squeeze1848
near-run thing1860
close call1881
1826 Sporting Mag. Apr. 375/1 From the discoloration that afterwards appeared on the vertebrae of the neck, it was evident that it was ‘a near go’.
1841 Fraser's Mag. 23 15 Which..would have been a near go for his neck.
1917 P. MacGill Brown Brethren xiv. 184 A bullet swept past Bowdy's head... But he was unharmed. ‘Blow me blind..if that wasn't a near go.’
1990 Q. Jrnl. Forestry 84 191 The worker who..saw how near I was to falling said, ‘by Jove! That was a near go, wasn't it?’
2002 Evening Standard (Nexis) 30 June 1 After seven months of waiting..and..after several near goes we are finally doing it.
near miss n. (a) a shot that only just misses a target; also in extended use; (b) a situation in which a collision is narrowly avoided.
ΚΠ
1940 Life 9 Sept. 120/2 The other was a near miss amidships.
1957 F. Hoyle Black Cloud i. 17 There's no chance of the cloud missing the solar system, of it being a near-miss, let us say?
1957 Listener 21 Nov. 853/2 For those children who are near-misses as well as for those who make the grade.
1966 J. Betjeman High & Low 70 That very near miss for an All Souls' Fellowship.
1973 Guardian 7 Mar. 2/1 French and Scandinavian pilots..had reported 11 ‘near misses’ over France to their airlines since Friday.
1998 E. Field Frieze for Temple of Love 128 The shock of the near miss Had given Moose a ravenous appetite.
near money n. a deposit, bond, etc., easily convertible into cash.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > money > medium of exchange or currency > paper money > promissory notes or bills of exchange > [noun]
credit1662
paper1704
commercial paper1836
stamped paper1847
near money1936
near-cash1937
1936 Jrnl. Polit. Econ. 44 28 The power to issue money and near-money should increasingly be concentrated in the hands of the central government.
1968 Economist 23 Nov. 83/1 Ottawa itself is relying on a $2 billion ‘near-money’ savings bond issue at 6¾ per cent to meet its current excessive needs.
1989 K. J. Tarbuck Bukharin's Theory of Equilibrium (BNC) 114 The fact that..the quantity of paper money and near money in circulation greatly increases only masks this decline in real production.
near month adj. and n. Stock Market (a) adj. (of a commodity future or option contract) that expires in a month which is close at hand rather than one in the more distant future; opposed to far month, deferred month; (b) n. a near month contract.
ΚΠ
1901 Jrnl. Royal Statist. Soc. 64 594 Futures for distant months, generally speaking, fluctuate less than those for near months.]
1906 Jrnl. Royal Statist. Soc. 69 323 The fluctuations of ‘near month futures’ on a certain day..numbered nearly 150.
1959 Times 15 Dec. 19/4 Merino futures moved generally easier in spasmodic trading. The market eased in conjunction with near months liquidation and switching.
2000 Business Times (Malaysia) (Nexis) 9 Nov. 22 A dealer said the rise in the far month contracts and vice versa in near month contracts were due to investors' mixed perception on the direction of interest rates.
near-point n. the closest point to the eyes on which they can focus unaided.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > [noun] > near or far point
far-point1876
near-point1876
1876 J. Bernstein Five Senses 70 This point, which is at a distance from the eye of about 4 or 5 inches, is called the near-point of the eye.
1962 H. C. Weston Sight, Light & Work (ed. 2) viii. 224 The shortest distance at which any of the test-types can be seen without blurring is the examinee's near-point.
a1980 M. McLuhan in G. Lynch & D. Rampton Canad. Ess. (1991) 119 One of the notable effects of the TV image on those in the primary grades seems to be the development of near-point reading.
near space n. space in the immediate vicinity of the earth; = inner adj. 1o(a).
ΘΚΠ
the world > the universe > space > [noun] > inner space
near space1959
1959 Science 10 Apr. 981/1 (advt.) Ground support systems for near space and deep space probes.
1967 Economist 20 May 791/3 The practical uses of ‘near-space’ in weather observation and in geological surveys of the earth.
1991 Science 14 June 1495/1 Lin is already thinking about a sequel to this near-space mission.
near-surface adj. close to the surface, esp. (Geology) the surface of the earth.
ΚΠ
1926 Science 1 Jan. 22/2 The surface and near-surface waters are rich in sulphates.
1947 Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer. 58 1201 The colloidality of the bentonite..may be in some way genetically related to the near-surface discoloration.
1995 Nature 20 Apr. 709 Rubbing a polyimide film causes near-surface alignment of the polymer molecules.
near work n. work involving proximity of the eye to the object.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > work > [noun] > other types of work
church worka1225
kirk work1418
fieldwork1441
labour of love1592
life's work1660
shop work1696
outwork1707
private practice1724
tide-work1739
sales-work1775
marshing1815
work in progress1815
life-work1837
relief work1844
sharp practice1847
near work1850
slop-work1861
repetition work1866
side work1875
rework1878
wage-slavery1886
work in progress1890
war work1891
busywork1893
screen work1912
staff-work1923
gig work1927
knowledge work1959
WIP1966
telework1970
playwork1986
laboratory work2002
1850 Q. Rev. 87 56 When not engaged upon near work the economist of sight will look about him with a free eye.
1900 C. H. May Man. Dis. Eye xxiv. 332 The presbyope is compelled to hold reading, writing, sewing, and other forms of near work farther away than the usual distance, making such efforts uncomfortable.
1988 Proc. National Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 85 257 Both heredity and long-lasting near work may play a part in the genesis of myopia.
near zone n. (also near-zone field) = near field n.
ΚΠ
1964 R. F. Ficchi Electr. Interference iii. 26 The induction or near-zone field, is that area immediately around the source volume in which, and on which, charge and current density are non-vanishing.
1973 C. W. Misner et al. Gravitation 997 (caption) Outside the source—but in the near zone (R ≦ r ≦ ƛ)—the ‘stress-energy pseudotensor’ tμν dies out.
1978 IEEE Trans. Antennas & Propagation 26 509/1 The near-zone fields of the sinusoidal surface monopole are presented in terms of exponential integrals.
1992 Proc. Royal Soc. 438 354 The kind of approximations considered here are expected to be valid only in the near zone; to get a more complete picture they should be matched to post-minkowskian approximations which are good in the far zone.
C2. In the senses ‘nearly the same as, falling somewhat short of, being an acceptable substitute for (the thing specified)’; ‘artificial’.
near certainty n.
ΚΠ
1774 T. Skaife Key Civil Archit. 218 The prices before mentioned..will form a near certainty for the whole.
1999 Financial Times 9 Oct. (FT Weekend section) 11/7 A magnetic resonance imaging scan and a bone scan confirmed with near certainty my cancer was contained within the gland.
near cider n.
ΚΠ
1822 W. Sewall Diary 27 Sept. (1930) 89 I am much troubled with a bowel complaint. This must have been caused by drinking freely of near cider.
near engagement n.
ΚΠ
1926 Ladies' Home Jrnl. Apr. 24 The decision was based on..two broken engagements, one near-engagement..and several flirtations.
2000 Ottawa Citizen (Nexis) 25 June c8 Broken love affairs, near engagements, breast cancer and the death of a beloved parent have all played their part in Bank's life.
near famine n.
ΚΠ
1913 Amer. Econ. Rev. 3 6 Malthus wrote in a time of war, of near-famine.
1942 Daily Tel. 22 May 5/3 If the harvest collection should break down through a failure of fuel supplies, then near-famine conditions..may not be far away.
1992 N.Y. Times Mag. 5 Jan. 32/1 Vietnam experienced near famine after a series of poor rice harvests.
near-fascist n. and adj.
ΚΠ
1936 Jrnl. Amer. Statist. Assoc. 31 652 The activities of almost two score of fascist and near-fascist organizations.
1938 New Statesman 3 Dec. 904/2 He must now embrace..not merely those propertied groups which are reliably republican, but near-Fascists of the Flandin type as well.
1996 Jrnl. Mod. Hist. 68 369 The Endeks moved rapidly in the years 1928-34 toward a near-fascist position.
near-illiterate n.
ΚΠ
1927 Jrnl. Royal Statist. Soc. 90 403 Those who have been to school but are still illiterate for all practical purposes (called in this report ‘near illiterates’).
1964 M. Critchley Developmental Dyslexia xiv. 81 Many of them..become items within the community of illiterates or near-illiterates.
1995 Lit. & Ling. Computing 10 45/1 A team of near-illiterates (in computing terms) conceived of a project in ignorance of..the true potentials of information technology in lexicology and lexicography.
near-miracle n. and adj.
ΚΠ
1930 Jrnl. Philos. 27 79 It [sc. President Otto's ‘Meditation on a Hill’] even performed the near-miracle of taking a well-fed audience in an unusually smoke-laden hall out into the open air of the country.
1993 Evening Sun (Baltimore) 15 Feb. c1/2 In 1990..the Orioles plunged drastically after a near-miracle season in 1989.
near monopoly n.
ΚΠ
1918 Amer. Jrnl. Sociol. 23 760 Sociologists can actively dispute the near-monopoly that psychologists have hitherto enjoyed in the guidance of educational theory.
1993 Fortune 8 Feb. 14/3 Intel has a near monopoly in the hottest processing chips, such as the i486.
near panic n.
ΚΠ
1919 Q. Jrnl. Econ. 33 433 It is well known that the year 1913–14 witnessed a ‘near-panic’ in Argentina.
1996 Nation 24 June 13/1 A surprise decision by the Hawaii Supreme Court..has thrown many leaders into near panic.
near-parallelism n.
ΚΠ
1852 Southern Rev. Jan. 267 The connection between the two apartments, which..may be held to lie in a near parallelism with the throat and stomach.
1888 Philos. Trans. 1887 (Royal Soc.) B. 178 211 No near parallelism is possible with Dinosaurs.
1991 Bond Buyer (Nexis) 25 Feb. 18 For disclosure purposes, parties' interests converge into near-parallelism.
near perfection n.
ΚΠ
1934 D. Thomas Let. 9 May in Sel. Lett. (1966) 124 You've brought ‘conventional’ poetry..to a point of near-perfection.
1995 Kindred Spirit Sept. 39/4 It was their [sc. the shamans] guidance which allowed the king to time his campaign to near perfection.
near-rhyme n.
ΚΠ
1947 Philos. Rev. 56 481 The delicious near-rhyme pleases these poets more than full echo.
1994 Speculum 69 824 The subtle and fluid patterns of near-rhyme, consonance, and weak alliteration that characterize Laȝamon's meter.
near savagery n.
ΚΠ
1912 J. H. Moore Ethics & Educ. 109 That state of near-savagery when any low-browed irresponsible..is allowed to go out and shoot to death everything that has the breath of life in it.
1991 William & Mary Q. 48 131 Hamilton..found far too many of the people..living in conditions that he characterized as a state of near savagery.
near smile n.
ΚΠ
1911 E. Ferber Dawn O'Hara iii. 34 Assuming a near-smile, she entered the room.
1992 R. McCall Hearing Loss? Guide to Self-help (ed. 2) 152 Let your tongue rest, allow your face and jaw muscles to ease—probably into a ‘near smile’.
near-star n.
ΚΠ
1928 Sunday Express 29 Ape. 5/2 They took to America ‘A Night Out,’ with so many stars and so many near-stars that [etc.].
near starvation n.
ΚΠ
1863 J. S. Hittell Resources of Calif. 393 Most of their [sc. the Indians'] food is such as a white man could not eat, unless reduced to near starvation.
1992 Independent 8 June 11/1 So much squalor, unemployment and near-starvation in black South Africa.
near-synonym n.
ΚΠ
1954 Ethics 64 101/1 ‘The people’ returned in the nineteenth century as a near-synonym of ‘nation’.
1993 Eng. Today Jan. 33/1 (Gloss.) The apartheid era saw a host of synonyms and near-synonyms in an attempt to sanitise the concepts of racial segregation.
near synonymity n.
ΚΠ
1962 W. Nowottny Lang. Poets Use vii. 168 Ambiguities (drawn variously from near-synonymity and from rhetorical repetitions involving syntactical similarity).
1981 Jrnl. Symbolic Logic 46 179 The near synonymity of the two English words is not sufficient grounds for interchanging them here.
near unanimity n.
ΚΠ
1941 Harper's Mag. Jan. 129/1 When they arise to speak the urge will appear spontaneous and the resultant near-unanimity of opinion will be all the more impressive.
1991 Antiquity 65 1000/1 There is also near unanimity about the duration of the eruption..and about the volume of erupted material.
near-wool n.
ΚΠ
1916 Sci. Monthly 3 270 People want to be as well dressed as their employers, so we give them near-wool in stylish patterns.
1930 Cambr. Daily News 25 Sept. 3/2 Never having worn even near-wool within rubbing distance of my skin.
C3.
near-absinthe n. now rare a drink resembling absinthe or drunk in its place, usually with a lower alcohol content.
ΚΠ
1928 Daily Express 27 Apr. 12/4 The aspirant painters..drink near-absinthe instead of beer.
1931 Daily Express 23 Sept. 9/3 There are small cafés, with men and women drinking the yellow-greenish pernod, the near-absinthe, now that the manufacture of absinthe is forbidden.
near bank n. Banking (originally and chiefly Canadian) a financial institution (such as a credit union) that provides lending and deposit services but does not have the status of a chartered bank; cf. chartered bank n. at chartered adj. Additions.
ΚΠ
1963 Canad. Banker Spring 103 The tradition of safety built up by the chartered banks has made it easier for the near-banks to grow without actually having to provide to the public the financial protection that is nowadays taken for granted.
1999 N.Y. Times 6 Dec. a22 (advt.) Banks and near banks are licensed under the Financial Institutions Act 1993.
near-beer n. originally U.S. a drink resembling beer; beer with a very low alcohol content.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > ale or beer > beer > [noun] > weak or inferior beer
small beer1498
small drinkc1525
tap-lash1623
pritch1673
grout1674
belch1706
whip-belly1738
penny-whip1786
swipes1796
strike-me-dead1824
inky-pinky1835
swankey1841
suds1904
near-beer1909
1909 N.Y. Evening Post (Semi-weekly ed.) 23 Aug. 2 The refusal of the Cities Commission to prohibit the sale of imitation beer, commonly known as ‘near beer’.
1992 Prime Time (Albuquerque, New Mexico) Oct. 19/4 Snails prefer non-alcoholic products to real beer. Even the near-beer must be fresh; snails don't like the stale stuff.
near equality n. the state of being almost equal; approximate equivalence in scope or extent.
ΚΠ
1691 T. Hale Acct. New Inventions 95 The Plumber's vain pretence to near Equality, and endeavour to cast as equal as he can.]
1851 Chambers's Papers for People XII. 28 I wish her to marry in her own rank and with near equality of fortune.
1887 Cent. Mag. May 59/1 The importance of preserving a near equality between the supply of nutriment to the body and the expenditure produced by the activity of the latter.
1967 E. U. Condon & H. Odishaw Handbk. Physics (ed. 2) iv. xi. 188/1 The phenomena that occur in a plasma and distinguish it from any arbitrary collection of charged particles are the near equality of positive and negative charges.
1996 Amer. Econ. Rev. 86 332/2 The near-equality of education levels of recent cohorts of men and women in South Africa.
near gale n. Meteorology a wind of force 7 on the Beaufort scale (28–33 knots) (now the official name for what is also known as a moderate gale).
ΚΠ
1958 Internat. Meteorol. Code (Meteorol. Office) (ed. 4) Amemdment List No. 1. 1 Pages 9 and 10, Table VI. Amend the descriptive terms as follows: force 7; for Moderate gale read Near gale.
1963 Meteorol. Gloss. (Meteorol. Office) (ed. 4) 37 The description of the various scale numbers are:..7 to 9, near gale, gale, and strong gale, respectively.
1993 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) B. 341 242/2 The frequency distribution of fall-directions of the trees..is closely similar to that of the directions of today's strong winds (near gale and stronger) in the area.
† near-isle n. Obsolete a peninsula.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > land mass > shore or bank > promontory, headland, or cape > [noun] > peninsula
peninsulaa1552
byland1577
demi-island1600
half-island1600
chersonese1601
demi-isle1609
penisle1611
near-isle1625
1625 W. Lisle tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Noe in tr. Part of Du Bartas 124 There lies higher a neere-Isle, betwixt Cuba and Mexico, called Iukatan.
near-print n. any duplicating process resembling typographical printing but not involving the setting of metal type; the product of such a process.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > printing > duplicating processes > [noun] > type of
near-print1937
1937 Amer. Sociol. Rev. 2 75 Jerome K. Wilcox requested that the Society pass a resolution relative to the listing of all processed or near print publications.
1969 N.Z. National Bibliogr. II. p. viii The growing volume of mimeographed and near-print editions has presented particular difficulty.
1989 Jrnl. Amer. Hist. 76 171/2 The SWP collection combines manuscript and near-print materials with copies of obscure publications relating to the party's evolving activities.
near seal n. North American fur dressed and dyed to resemble sealskin.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > skin or hide > skin with hair attached or fur > [noun] > of seal > resembling
near seal1902
1902 G. H. Lorimer Lett. Merchant 184 He leads the nag out..and examines every hair of his hide, as if he expected to find it near-seal.
1906 T. Eaton & Co. Catal. Fall–Winter 4/1 Near Seal Jacket, made of finest quality skins, closely resembling real seal in appearance.
near-silk n. now rare rayon, artificial silk; also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric made from specific material > made from man-made fibres > [noun] > artificial silk
artificial silk1879
poult1883
art silk1885
Chardonnet silk1893
near-silka1911
viscose silk1913
Celanese1921
rayon1924
viscose rayon1930
viscose1932
Tricel1954
a1911 D. G. Phillips Susan Lenox (1917) II. ii. 37 I guess she must be a top notcher—the real thing, come down in the world—and not out of the near silks.
1937 D. F. Canfield Fables for Parents 251 Nude-colored, near-silk stockings with a run down one leg.

Derivatives

ˈnear-like adj. rare
ΚΠ
1835 M. Scott Cruise of Midge xv, in Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. May 784/2 The outline, indeed, [was] dangerously distinct and near-like.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2003; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

nearv.

Brit. /nɪə/, U.S. /nɪ(ə)r/
Forms: 1500s–1600s neere, 1600s neare, 1700s ner, 1700s– near; also Scottish pre-1700 neer, pre-1700 neir, pre-1700 neire, pre-1700 nere.
Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: near adv.2
Etymology: < near adv.2 Compare Middle Dutch, Dutch naderen , Middle Low German naderen , Middle High German næhern (German nähern ). Compare earlier nigh v.
1. intransitive. To draw or come near, to approach, in space or time.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > movement towards a thing, person, or position > move towards [verb (intransitive)] > draw near
neighlecheeOE
i-nehleche971
to draw nearc1330
to nigh nighc1330
nighle1340
to-neighea1382
nigha1387
to draw nigh?a1400
nighena1400
to nigh neara1400
to draw ona1450
neara1522
to close about, on, round, upon1523
accost1571
anear1582
anigh1594
proach1600
appropinquate1623
to close in1704
a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid (1960) xii. xii. 147 The swipir Tuscan hund assais And nerys fast.
1582 R. Stanyhurst tr. Virgil First Foure Bookes Æneis iii. 59 Wee sayle bye Ceraunia swiftly. Wheare..a cantel of Italye neereth.
1613 T. Heywood Brazen Age ii. ii Their sports I'le neere to marre.
1798 S. T. Coleridge Anc. Marinere iii, in W. Wordsworth & S. T. Coleridge Lyrical Ballads 15 Still it ner'd and ner'd.
1844 E. B. Barrett Poems II. 242 Nay, keep smiling, little child, Ere the sorrow neareth.
1860 E. B. Pusey Minor Prophets 379 As the time of the birth of our Lord neared.
1927 V. Woolf To Lighthouse ii. vi. 198 As Summer neared, as the evenings lengthened.
1950 R. Macaulay World my Wilderness ix. 83 She did not care for the distant prospect of the Highlands; still less as it neared and acquired focus and clarity.
1985 P. Abrahams View from Coyaba ii. i. 28 Had he heard the distant bark of a dog? Were the hunters nearing?
2. transitive. To draw near to, to approach (a person, place, etc.) in space or time. Also: †to be near (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > movement towards a thing, person, or position > move towards or approach (a thing, place, or person) [verb (transitive)] > draw near to
nighlOE
anigha1400
aboard1458
close1523
near1570
anear1577
appropinque1663
1570 C. Campbell Let. 7 June in J. E. A. Dawson Campbell Lett. (1997) 149 Thai followit upoun with gret deligence and nerit him in Glenlyon.
a1600 (?c1535) tr. H. Boece Hist. Scotl. (Mar Lodge) ix. xvi. f. 330, in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue at Nere Ferquhard hounding ane wolf that was nerit be the houndis.
1611 T. Heywood Golden Age i. sig. B2 Keep off, I charge thee neere me not.
1637 T. Heywood Royall King ii. ii Give up your Key Vnto that Lord that neares you.
1748 B. Robins & R. Walter Voy. round World by Anson ii. v. 177 We must by this means unavoidably near her.
1808 W. Scott Marmion ii. xi. 88 Soon as they neared his turrets strong.
1874 T. N. Harper Peace through Truth 2nd Ser. i. 90 The quotation..does not even near the point in debate.
1922 ‘R. Crompton’ Just—William xii. 235 Upon William's face was a set, stern expression which cleared slightly as he neared the Police Station.
1940 W. Faulkner Hamlet 199 It was now nearing noon.
1998 Wired Oct. 195/1 The Cold War was nearing its end. It was a propitious moment for a global telephone network.
†3. transitive. To bring or take (a person or thing) near to. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > movement towards a thing, person, or position > move towards or approach (a thing, place, or person) [verb (transitive)] > bring near
approach?1541
neighbour1594
appropinquate1646
approximate1671
near1849
1849 J. Ruskin Seven Lamps Archit. vi. 171 [To] separate man from man, and near him to his Maker.
1881 O. Wilde Poems 120 No ferry-man..Nears his black shallop to the flowerless strand.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

† nearadv.1prep.1

Forms: Old English nior (non-West Saxon), Old English nyr (West Saxon, rare), Old English (non-West Saxon)–early Middle English neor (chiefly south-west midlands), Old English (non-West Saxon)–1500s ner, Old English (West Saxon)–1800s near, late Old English–Middle English nier, Middle English nyre (southern), Middle English–1600s neer, Middle English–1600s neere, Middle English–1600s nere, Middle English–1600s nyer, 1500s neare; Scottish pre-1700 neere, pre-1700 neir, pre-1700 ner, pre-1700 nere, 1800s near.
Origin: A word inherited from Germanic.
Etymology: Cognate with Old Frisian niār nearer (West Frisian neier ), Middle Dutch naer , nār nearer, near (also double comparative forms naerre , naerder , nader ; Dutch naar (preposition) to, after, by, nader nearer), Old Saxon nāhor nearer (Middle Low German nēger , nāer , nār ), Old High German nāhōr nearer (Middle High German nāher , næher , nār , nēr , German näher ), Old Icelandic nær nearer, near (compare near adv.2; also double comparative form nærr : compare nar adv.), Old Swedish när , nar near (Swedish när ), Danish nær near, Gothic nehwis nearer < a suffixed (comparative: see -er suffix3) form of the Germanic base of nigh adv. For the semantic development from comparative to positive sense evident in the Scandinavian languages, Dutch, and English see discussion s.v. near adv.2 Compare nar adv.Variation in the suffixation of the Germanic base (see discussion s.v. -er suffix3) is reflected in a divergence of forms in the attested languages: the -i- of the less common suffix is reflected in Gothic nehwis and in the mutated stem vowel of Old Icelandic nær and the rare Old English (West Saxon) nȳr (a reflex of unattested *nīer ; the usual West Saxon form is unmutated nēar ). The unetymological final -r of Old English nȳr is by analogy with nēar . There is complete semantic overlap with nar adv. 2 (see etymological note s.v. nar adj. for the distinction between these words). In sense 1c perhaps a shortened form of no nearer, which may not always be audible aboard ship in windy conditions. N.E.D. (1906) gives the pronunciation as (nīəɹ) /nɪə(r)/.
Obsolete.
I. In purely adverbial use. Frequently with noun or noun phrase as complement (in dative in Old English). (When used with complement near can be analysed as a preposition.)
1.
a. With a verb of motion: nearer or closer (to a place, point, or person).
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > distance > nearness > [adverb] > nearer
nearOE
narc1350
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > movement towards a thing, person, or position > [adverb] > near (expressing motion)
nighOE
nearOE
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > movement towards a thing, person, or position > [adverb] > near (expressing motion) > nearer
nearOE
near and nearOE
OE Beowulf 745 Forð near ætstop, nam þa mid handa..rinc on ræste.
OE Blickling Homilies 179 Gang me near hider.
lOE King Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Bodl.) iii. 8 Ða eode se Wisdom near, cwæð Boetius, minum hreowsiendum geþohte.
c1385 G. Chaucer Knight's Tale 968 No neer Atthenes wolde he go ne ryde.
c1425 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Harl.:Wright) l. 4920 + 132 Cadwal..Aryuede bysyde toteneys [and] come somdel ner.
?a1475 Ludus Coventriae (1922) 52 (MED) I kan not seyn what it may be; I wyll go nere in goddys name.
1533 J. Heywood Mery Play Iohan Iohan sig. B.ivv Stand styll drab, I say and come no nere.
1596 Raigne of Edward III sig. B3 Pardon me..I will come no neare . View more context for this quotation
b. near and near: nearer and nearer. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > distance > nearness > [adverb] > nearer > nearer and nearer
near and nearOE
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > movement towards a thing, person, or position > [adverb] > near (expressing motion) > nearer
nearOE
near and nearOE
OE Seven Sleepers (Julius) (1994) 45 And æfre swa hi near and near eodon, hi fundon ælcne stan on oðerne befegedne.
c1300 St. Michael (Laud) 380 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 310 (MED) He wole him bringue euere ner ant ner In deoppore suneguyngue, Atenende In-to þe putte of helle.
c1380 Sir Ferumbras (1879) 350 Þe knyȝt him neȝeþ ner & ner.
c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Reeve's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 384 With the staf she drow ay ner and ner And wende han hit this Aleyn atte fulle.
a1425 (?a1300) Kyng Alisaunder (Linc. Inn) (1952) 595 He schal wemde of londe feor Grete and come neor and neor.
a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll. 13) (1990) I. 265 As they com nere and nere sir Launcelot thought he sholde know hym.
c1600 Diurnal of Remarkable Occurrents (1833) 45 Then the rest fled, and the Scottis drew neir and neir.
?1611 G. Chapman tr. Homer Iliads xxiii. 313 Still creeping neare and neare the heape.
c1829 Lord Thomas & Fair Annet in F. J. Child Eng. & Sc. Pop. Ballads (1885) II. iii. No. 73. f. 37 And ay at every year's ane They grew them near and near.
c. Nautical. no near! (also near!): a command to a helmsman to come no closer to the wind, or to fall off to leeward.For examples where near does not appear to have a comparative sense, cf. near adv.2 6d. Cf. also close adj. 15c, and wind n.1 23.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > directing or managing a ship > use of wind > [interjection] > order to come no closer to wind
no near!c1500
near!1769
c1500 Pilgrims Sea-voyage 29 in F. J. Furnivall Stations of Rome (1867) i. 38 Go to the helm!..no nere!
1616 T. Coryate Traveller for Eng. Wits 54 With Starboord, Larboorde, Helme, Alee, Full, Come no neere: 'tis done quoth he, who at the Helme doth stand.
1627 J. Smith Sea Gram. ix. 37 No neere, ease the Helme, or beare vp, is to let her fall to Lee-ward.
1669 S. Sturmy Mariners Mag. i. ii. 18 No near, keep her full.
1710 Polit. Ballads (1860) II. 80 Avast, cried out the Admiral, No-near, you rogues, no-near.
1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine at No nearer! It is often abbreviated into no near, and sometimes into near; and is generally applied when the sails shake in the wind.
1841 R. H. Dana Seaman's Man. 116 ‘Near!’ the order to the helmsman when he is too near the wind.
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. 494 Near, and No Near, synonymous terms used as a warning to the helmsman when too near the wind, not to come closer to it, but to keep the weather-helm in hand.
2.
a. At a nearer distance, with a smaller interval, in space or time.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > distance > nearness > [adverb] > nearly or closely > more nearly or closely
nearOE
OE tr. Alexander's Let. to Aristotle (1995) §29. 242 Mid þy ic þa wolde near geseon & sceawigon, ða flugon hie sona in þa wæter.
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 4549 (MED) Þe traytour..fley atte laste To cornwaile..he ne dorste no ner abyde.
a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll. 13) (1990) III. 1220 Than sir Launcelot strode nere sir Gawayne and doubled hys strokis.
1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) xvi. 258 The king and all that with him war Raid..neir to-giddir than ere did thai.
b. far and near [see comparative forms s.v. far adv.] : further (off) and nearer (at hand). Cf. far adv. 1b.
ΚΠ
OE Wulfstan Institutes of Polity: Ad Sacerdotes (Junius) 176 Hit gebyreð eow, þæt ge me gearwe beon swa fyr swa nyr.
a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 137 Hereword to habbene and beon iwurðegede fir and neor.
c1275 (?c1250) Owl & Nightingale (Calig.) (1935) 923 (MED) In eauer euch londe ich am cuuþ, East & west, feor & neor.
c1300 St. Dunstan (Laud) 72 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 21 (MED) Men speken muche of his guodnesse wel wide feor and ner.
c1475 (a1400) Sir Amadace (Taylor) in J. Robson Three Early Eng. Metrical Romances (1842) 51 (MED) Broke wele thi londus brode..Thi frithis, thi forestus, fer and nere.
c. figurative. More closely; more strictly.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > love > friendliness > [adverb] > intimately or familiarly > more closely or intimately
nearc1175
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 15688 Þatt lott off menn..Þatt wass till crist ȝet ner bitahht Þan hise posstless wærenn.
a1425 (?a1400) Cloud of Unknowing (Harl. 674) (1944) 69 (MED) For euer þe nere men touchen þe trewþ, more war men behoueþ to be of errour.
a1500 (?c1378) J. Wyclif Eng. Wks. (1880) 409 Men wolen not be euene wiþ crist ne go bifore hym..but sue crist neer or ferrere.
1572 in J. Cranstoun Satirical Poems Reformation (1891) I. xxxviii. 18 I[n] greis neir to Ganȝelon nor grit Charlie Mane.
II. In predicative use, usually after the verb to be. Frequently with noun or noun phrase as complement (in dative in Old English) or to.
3. Nearer in space or time; nearer at hand. Also in proverbial phrases.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > distance > nearness > [adverb]
nighOE
anewstOE
nearOE
yhendeOE
hendc1175
hendena1200
anighc1275
besidesc1275
bihalvec1275
beside1297
narc1325
on (also upon) hand (also hands)c1330
bya1400
anighsta1425
nearabout?a1425
near-awaya1586
a hand1637
anear1798
OE Old Eng. Martyrol. (Julius) 21 Mar. 39 Swa he bið þære sunnan near swa bið his leoht læsse.
OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 2nd Ser. (Cambr. Gg.3.28) xxii. 212 Swa near ende þyssere worulde swa mare ehtnys þæs deofles.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 15235 [The] oþerr [bench] wass abufenn þatt & summ del ner þe waȝhe.
c1275 (?c1250) Owl & Nightingale (Calig.) (1935) 1260 (MED) Nis heom þar fore harem no þe ner.
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Rom. xiii. 11 Sothli now oure heelthe is neer than whanne we bileueden.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 106 Þe nere euerich beme lyne is toþere lynes..the more stronge he is.
a1400 (c1303) R. Mannyng Handlyng Synne (Harl.) 9242 (MED) Þe nere þe cherche, þe fyrþer fro God.
a1500 ( Pilgrimage of Soul (Egerton) (1953) i. iv. f. 5 (MED) I was left up in to the eyre..So than I be helde dounward for to se the erthe..and yitte it semyd to me muche neer than it was befor.
1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue i. ix. sig. Cv The nere to the churche, the ferther from god.
4. Nearer in kinship or relationship.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > [adverb] > nearer
neareOE
eOE (Kentish) Charter: Eadweald & Cyneðryð (Sawyer 1200) in F. E. Harmer Sel. Eng. Hist. Docs. 9th & 10th Cent. (1914) 10 Nis Eðelmode enig meghond neor ðes cynnes ðanne Eadwald, his modar his broðar dohtar.
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 234 Vor manie þer byeþ þet more byeþ nier god þanne manye maydines.
c1400 Comm. on Canticles (Bodl. 288) in T. Arnold Sel. Eng. Wks. J. Wyclif (1871) III. 69 (MED) Watir is neer hevene in kynde þan is erþe.
?c1450 tr. Bk. Knight of La Tour Landry (1906) 18 (MED) Y saide she was bothe good and faire, but she shulde be to me no nere than she was.
1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. xxxii. 46 That the duke of Brabant wold be redy for his part, sayeng, yt he was nere than they.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) ii. iii. 139 The neere in blood, the neerer bloody. View more context for this quotation
5. Nearer to one's end or purpose. Only in negative and interrogative clauses, esp. never the near. (Very common in the late 16th and early 17th cent.) In later use only English regional.
a. With personal subject.For a possible earlier isolated example of this use, not in the negative, cf. quot. eOE.
ΚΠ
eOE Let. to Edward the Elder (Sawyer 1445) in F. E. Harmer Sel. Eng. Hist. Docs. 9th & 10th Cent. (1914) 31 Ða ðuhte us eallan ðe æt ðære some wæran, ðæt Helmstan wære aðe ðæs ðe near.]
c1395 G. Chaucer Canon's Yeoman's Tale 721 With this chanoun I dwelt haue seuen yeer, And of his science am I neuere the neer.
c1400 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Trin. Cambr. R.3.14) (1960) A. xi. 258 Ȝet am I neuere þe ner, for nouȝt I haue walkid To wyte what is dowel.
a1500 ( Pilgrimage of Soul (Egerton) (1953) iii. i. f. 47 (MED) A birde..alday contynualy rennyth in a cage to seke an hole..and many hundred tymes asaieth the same place and neuer is the wiser whan he comyth a geyn, ne neuere the nete [read nere] delyuered.
1533 J. Frith Bk. answeringe Mores Let. sig. Kijv Then is he neuer the nere hys purpose, but much the further from it.
a1561 G. Cavendish Metrical Visions (1980) 1382 Ffor all my conquestes, and my Royall powers..what ame I the nere?
1624 R. Montagu Gagg for New Gospell? vi. 54 He may call his heart out..and not the neere.
1657 R. Ligon True Hist. Barbados 121 If it be not under lock and key, they are never the neer.
1854 A. E. Baker Gloss. Northants. Words II. 59 I've worked all day, and am nivver the near.
b. With non-referential pronoun as subject.
ΚΠ
a1592 R. Greene Frier Bacon (1594) sig. D Your early vp, pray God it be the neere.
a1592 R. Greene Sc. Hist. Iames IV (1598) sig. A4 There I kept a great house with smal cheer, but all was nere the neere.
1704 Boston News-let. 1 May 2/1 'Twas never the near for him to build his New Fortifications round his House, for they would certainly take him.
1811 A. de Beauclerc Ora & Juliet IV. 93 As for staying with them there French rascals, it was never the near.
1888 F. T. Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk. (at cited word) What's the near to tell up such stuff's that?
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2003; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

nearadv.2prep.2

Brit. /nɪə/, U.S. /nɪ(ə)r/
Forms: early Middle English neor (chiefly south-west midlands), Middle English neir (chiefly northern), Middle English neyr, Middle English nir, Middle English–1600s ner, Middle English–1600s nere, Middle English–1600s nier, Middle English–1700s neare, Middle English–1700s neer, Middle English–1700s neere, Middle English– near, 1500s nerier (comparative, perhaps transmission error), 1500s nyer, 1600s ne'er, 1600s ne're, 1600s nyre; English regional (chiefly northern) 1800s– neader (comparative), 1800s– nearder (comparative), 1800s– nearderest (superlative), 1800s– neardest (superlative), 1800s– nearther (comparative), 1800s– nearthest (superlative), 1800s– neather (comparative), 1800s– neeader (comparative), 1900s– neer; U.S. regional 1800s neah, 1800s– nearder (chiefly southern and south Midland, comparative), 1800s– neardest (chiefly southern and south Midland, superlative); Scottish pre-1700 neere, pre-1700 neire, pre-1700 nere, pre-1700 neyr, pre-1700 neyre, pre-1700 nire, pre-1700 nyr, pre-1700 1700s–1800s neer, pre-1700 1700s–1800s nere, pre-1700 1700s– near, pre-1700 1700s– neir, pre-1700 1800s neare, pre-1700 1800s ner, 1700s–1800s ne'er, 1800s– nearder (south-west, comparative), 1800s– neardher (south-west, comparative); also Irish English (northern) 1800s neer, 1800s– nearder (comparative), 1800s– neardest (superlative), 1900s– neardher (comparative), 1900s– neardhest (superlative), 1900s– nearther (comparative), 1900s– nearthest (superlative).
Origin: Formed within English, by conversion; probably modelled on an early Scandinavian lexical item. Etymon: near adv.1
Etymology: < near adv.1, probably after early Scandinavian (compare Old Icelandic nær , more commonly used in positive sense ‘near’ than in comparative sense ‘nearer’: see near adv.1); Middle Dutch naer , nar , also attested in both comparative and positive sense, probably represents an independent parallel formation. Compare nar adv.The transition from comparative to positive sense in Old Icelandic probably originated in such expressions as koma or ganga nær to come or go nearer to a person or place, which readily passes into the sense of going absolutely ‘close’ or ‘near’. The positive sense having thus attached itself to the word, nær could be employed with other verbs than those of motion, as standa to stand, or vera to be. A similar development is reflected in Middle Dutch naer , nār near (whence the modern Dutch preposition naar to, for, after, etc.). In English some difference is felt in the sense of near according as it goes with a verb of motion or not, and in predicative use after the verb to be (expressed or implied) the adverbial sense tends to pass into a purely adjectival one. In view of the difficulty of distinguishing the adjectival, adverbial, and prepositional or quasi-prepositional uses, all comparative uses of near are placed at near adv.1, and all positive (i.e. not comparative) uses are placed at near adv.2 except those which are attributive, or examples of adjective used as noun, which are placed at near adj. (this follows the practice of N.E.D.). It is impossible to make this division precisely, especially as the early Scandinavian words held to have influenced the latter could be semantically comparative as well as positive, but the provisional division indicates that the word had two etymological strands, and has been retained. Old Icelandic nær (like Old English nēar ) might be used either alone or with a noun complement in the dative case. Both usages were adopted in Middle English, and a further construction introduced by the use of to before the noun. When the noun or noun phrase is the direct complement of near , this acquires practically the force of a preposition, but differs from true prepositions in having comparative and superlative forms. Comparative and superlative forms in -d- , -dh- , -th- are probably after farther adv., farthest adv. (compare forms s.vv.). For the distinction between near and nar , see discussion s.v. nar adj.
I. Without noun phrase or prepositional phrase as complement.
* Denoting approximation in degree or amount.
1. Within a (very) little, all but, almost. Frequently intensified by very, †well, or †full. Now chiefly colloquial and regional (more usually expressed by nearly).
a. In general use, esp. with past participles or verbs, indicating that an action is all but completed or accomplished.
ΚΠ
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 9638 All þe iudewisshe follc Well ner wass all forrworrpenn.
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) 1974 (MED) Þemperour, whan he it wist, wod wax he nere.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 4760 Þan iacob and his suns warn For defaut wel ner forfarn.
c1400 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Trin. Cambr. R.3.14) (1960) A. vii. 163 (MED) He brast ner here mawis.
1485 Malory's Morte Darthur (Caxton) iii. xiii. sig. f.iv Her arme was sore brysed and nere she swouned for payne.
a1500 (?c1400) Sir Triamour (Cambr.) (1937) 1568 Thy gode dayes are nere done; Thy power ys nere paste!
1559 J. Aylmer Harborowe sig. I3v I mighte neare gather an equall authoritie betwixte the wife and the husbande.
1595 S. Daniel First Fowre Bks. Ciuile Warres iv. ix. sig. Tv What is it..to do, if what we do Shall perish nere as soone as it is donne?
1662 Irish Act 14 & 15 Chas. II c. 2 §31 That that near ruined kingdom will be restored to peace and plenty.
1696 W. Whiston New Theory of Earth iii. 175 They appear to have been pretty near of an Age.
1733 J. Tull Horse-hoing Husbandry iii. 12 One would serve to keep Plants fix'd and steady, very near, if not quite as well as the other.
1770 S. Foote Lame Lover iii. 69 The knight is..very near drunk.
1836 T. C. Haliburton Clockmaker 1st Ser. xii. 99 It's near about the prettiest sight I know of.
1851 A. Maclagan Poems 65 The laft near comes doon.
1891 J. M. Barrie Little Minister I. iii. 46 He prays near like one giving orders.
1928 G. Blake Paper Money 42 ‘Ye've taken that house?’ ‘Taken it? I very near bought it!’
1951 S. H. Bell December Bride ii. xvi. 169 That woman near killed me! I was stooned for days after it!
1995 J. Banville Athena 113 One of them gave the security guard a belt of a hammer and damn near killed him.
b. With terms of number, quantity, extent, etc. Also used independently: †nearly all (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > approximate quantity or amount > [adverb] > nearly (of amount)
well-nigheOE
nighOE
well-nearc1175
almostc1261
nighwhatc1300
nara1400
neara1400
anighsta1425
muchwhata1513
wellmost1548
most1629
nighly1694
nearly1769
partly1781
mostly1805
most1808
mostlings1816
about1827
nearabouts1834
fairly1840
welly1859
approaching1951
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 3155 (MED) He welk þat fell ner dais thre.
?a1425 Mandeville's Trav. (Egerton) (1889) 14 (MED) Fra Rodes to Cypre es nere vc myle.
c1480 (a1400) St. Lawrence 165 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 406 I spendyt hafe nere al þe tresoure, þat þu me gafe.
1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) i. l. 208 A sone he had ner xxti ȝer of age.
1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. ccvii. 246 His men were ner slayne or taken, but fewe that were saued.
a1556 N. Udall Ralph Roister Doister (?1566) i. ii. sig. A.iiijv Hir Thousande pounde..Is muche neere aboute two hundred and fiftie.
1604 E. Grimeston tr. J. de Acosta Nat. & Morall Hist. Indies i. ii. 5 I have sayled neere 70 degrees from North to South.
1673 J. Ray Observ. Journey Low-countries 8 At near an hundred foot depth they met with a Bed or Floor of Sand.
1719 D. Defoe Life Robinson Crusoe 269 It cost us near a Fortnight's Time.
1798 C. Marshall Introd. Knowl. & Pract. Gardening (ed. 2) xiv. 195 There should be near four feet distance between each set of plants.
1846 P. N. Barbour Jrnl. 5 June (1936) 83 I have not been to Matamoras for near a week.
1876 W. E. Gladstone Homeric Synchronism 21 The discussion..has continued for near a century.
1917 H. L. Wilson Ruggles of Red Gap (1936) vii. 134 He began a quizzing sort of conversation with me that lasted near a half-hour, I should say.
1990 G. G. Liddy Monkey Handlers xv. 241 ‘That got that little pigster triangular folding bayonet?’ asked Saul. ‘Right... Ain't so little. Near nine inches long.’
c. near on (also †upon): nearly, nigh on (chiefly as in sense 1b).
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > approximate quantity or amount > approximately (an amount) [phrase] > nearly (an amount)
nigh thana1200
on (also upon) the point ofc1300
nearhandc1350
nigh byc1430
nearbyc1485
nigh hand1548
fast upon1583
nigh upon1632
near on (also upon)1651
nothing short of1838
nigh but1854
1651 Perfect Diurnall No. 96. 1356 We have shipped here from Bristol neere upon 1000 prisoners already.
1706 T. Hearne Remarks & Coll. (1885) I. 222 He said near upon as big as Mr. Dodwell's Book.
1846 W. S. Landor Imaginary Conversat. in Wks. II. 18/1 I am near upon eighty years of age.
1865 Athenæum No. 1944. 121/3 Near upon thirty servants.
1886 R. L. Stevenson Kidnapped xiv. 128 I had left the shore at Queensferry with near on fifty pounds.
1960 H. Pinter Caretaker 20 Oh, must be—it was in the war—must be—about near on fifteen year ago.
1992 R. Kenan Let Dead bury their Dead i. 4 They were already perturbed, understandably, over the child since, at near on three years, he hadn't yet said a blessed word.
†2. Closely (in various senses, esp. in respect of pressure or touching, resemblance, connection, or scrutiny). Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > relationship > similarity > [adverb] > closely (of resemblance)
nigha1382
neara1398
nearly1594
expressly1642
closely1682
close1833
the mind > emotion > love > friendliness > [adverb] > intimately or familiarly > (of friendship or connection) closely
nighOE
neara1398
the world > action or operation > manner of action > care, carefulness, or attention > [adverb] > with scrupulous care or attention to detail
narrowlyeOE
narrowOE
wellOE
busilyc1225
inwardly?c1225
closely1509
nearly1540
near1560
searchingly1574
nicely1597
exactly1612
strictly1632
close1642
pressly1642
scrutinously1650
minutely1690
scrupulously1712
tightly1758
keenly1824
slippery1828
meticulously1961
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 105 Þe ouermest partie of þe aier..is ner I-ioyned to þe roundenes of þe fure & hatte ethereum.
a1425 (?a1350) Gospel of Nicodemus (Galba) (1907) 1699 (MED) Sir, we war athed ful nere and we answer þusgate.
c1485 ( G. Hay Bk. Law of Armys (2005) 192 His jnymyes..pressit him sa nere, yat outhir him behufit tobe slayne or ellis to leve the barne.
1508 Golagros & Gawane (Chepman & Myllar) sig. dii It tuichis myne honour sa neir.
1526 Pylgrimage of Perfection (de Worde) f. 27 No religyon is founded hytherto ye so nere representeth yt primityue chirche of Chryst.
1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. xvij Thinges, which beynge nerer looked to, conteyne ofte tymes great errours.
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene ii. ii. sig. O3 But he..Suffred not their blowes to byte him nere.
1592 A. Day Eng. Secretorie (rev. ed.) i. sig. E2 We will see how nere in writing they concurre.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 1 (1623) v. i. 17 The Earle of Arminacke neere knit to Charles. View more context for this quotation
1627 W. Sclater Briefe Expos. 2 Thess. 254 In this, which toucheth neerest clamorous plaintiues.
1660 F. Brooke tr. V. Le Blanc World Surveyed 46 Elephants..are animals approaching very near to reason.
1673 A. Marvell Let. 5 Apr. in Poems & Lett. (1971) II. 278 If it be thought fit to enter nearer and further into the matter.
1702 Clarendon's Hist. Rebellion I. i. 19 His Majesty had another Exception against the Duke, which touch'd him as near.
1710 London Gaz. No. 4674/8 The near Foot before pared very near towards the Heel.
1726 G. Shelvocke Voy. round World xiii. 401 They are in shape and bigness the nearest like our green grasshoppers.
1757 E. Burke Philos. Enq. Sublime & Beautiful i. §15. 26 The nearer it [sc. tragedy] approaches the reality,..the more perfect is its power.
3. With negatives: (not) by a great deal or a long way, (not) anything like, (not) nearly. Frequently followed by as, so.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > relationship > difference > [adverb] > not nearly or far from being
near1447
nowhere near (also nigh)c1449
nothing less?1520
nothing near1581
nothing nigh1743
nearly1745
1447 O. Bokenham Lives of Saints (Arun.) (1938) 84 (MED) The forme of procedyng artificyal Is in no wyse ner poetycal.
1638 F. Junius Painting of Ancients 120 He is nothing neere so much delighted.
1669 R. Montagu in Buccleuch MSS (Hist. MSS Comm.) (1899) I. 465 The King gave me fifteen hundred pound.., which did not near serve.
1738 tr. C. Rollin Anc. Hist. (ed. 2) I. 244 His army was not near so numerous as when he left Spain.
1794 N. Parry in Kentucky Hist. Soc. Reg. (1936) XXXII. 383 There is in this place an elegant State House Erecting... It was not near finished.
1827 R. Southey Hist. Peninsular War II. 14 They are not near so fine a people now as they were then.
1929 Wisconsin Alumni Mag. Apr. 227 Olin isn't near as bad as I supposed him to be.
1989 N. Cave And Ass saw Angel iii. 197 A memory-wipe wasn't near as bad, on the sanity-scale, as having an imaginary helper working the night-raids for me.
4. as near as (one can, etc.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > care, carefulness, or attention > care or carefulness [phrase] > as carefully as possible
as near as1517
the world > relative properties > relationship > similarity > [adverb] > almost or nearly
nigheOE
well-nigheOE
forneanc1000
well-nearc1175
almostc1261
nighwhatc1300
nearhandc1350
nigh handa1375
nigh handsa1375
as good asc1390
into (right) littlea1413
unto litea1420
nigh byc1430
nearbyc1485
near handsa1500
as near as1517
mosta1538
next door1542
wellmost1548
all but1590
anewst1590
uneath1590
next to1611
nearlya1616
thereaboutsa1616
welly1615
thereabout1664
within (an) ames-ace ofa1670
anear1675
pretty much1682
three parts1711
newsta1728
only not1779
partly1781
in all but name1824
just about1836
nentes1854
near1855
nar1859
just1860
not-quite1870
nearabouta1878
effectively1884
nigh on1887
1517 S. Hawes Pastime of Pleasure (new ed.) sig. Av But euermore, As nere as I myght I toke the waye, Whiche went before me ryght.
a1538 T. Starkey Dial. Pole & Lupset (1989) 96 We wyl take nature for our exampul & as nere as we can folow hyr steppys.
1559 Queen Elizabeth I in R. Norton tr. W. Camden Hist. Eliz. (1630) i. 27 I will..take such a husband as neere as may be.
1615 W. Lawson Country Housewifes Garden (1626) 27 A plaine without a knot, or as neere as you can without a knot.
1680 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises I. xii. 217 Work that Molding as near as you can with the Hook.
1783 Double Conspiracy i. 17 We must make a general seizure of all British goods, as near as may be, at the same hour, that the greatest possible blow, may be struck at once.
1913 E. H. Porter Pollyanna xv. 148 As near as I can find out it is an overwhelming, unquenchable gladness.
†5. Narrowly, only by a little. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > safety > escape > [adverb]
neara1592
the world > space > distance > nearness > [adverb] > nearly or closely
nighlyOE
nighc1387
throng?a1425
justc1440
narrowly1487
foot-hot1513
meeta1522
hardly1554
fastlings1568
nearly1569
neara1592
close1596
closely1634
nicely1690
narrow1697
snugly1800
snug1831
tight1888
a1592 R. Greene Hist. Orlando Furioso (1594) sig. Ciii The Foxe is scapde..: I mist him nere, twas time for him to trudge.
a1593 C. Marlowe Massacre at Paris (c1600) sig. B1v See where my Souldier shot him through the arm. He mist him neer.
1827 W. Tennant Papistry Storm'd 67 Acquentin' him..How near he 'scap't frae bein' stabbit.
** Denoting proximity.
6.
a. To, within, or at a short distance; to or in close proximity. Also figurative.
ΚΠ
c1225 (?c1200) St. Juliana (Bodl.) 335 (MED) Ga nu neor & nim him.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) 15592 Þis iherden þa cnigtes þer heo weoren bi-haluef; heo arisen up & eoden neor.
a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 2611 Egipte wimmen comen ner.
c1395 G. Chaucer Squire's Tale 1 Squier, come ner, if it youre wille be.
a1425 (c1333–52) L. Minot Poems (1914) 12 He herd ascry Þat king Edward was nere tharby.
1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) ix. l. 400 He gaiff commaund na schip suld ner apper.
?1507 W. Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen (Rouen) in Poems (1998) I. 45 To speik..I sall nought spar, ther is no spy neir.
1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 698 Two of the chiefest Aldermen..earnestly admonished him..to come not one foote nerer.
1596 E. Spenser Second Pt. Faerie Queene vi. vi. sig. Dd7v The saluage man did take his steede, And in some stable neare did set him vp to feede. View more context for this quotation
1612 B. Jonson Alchemist iii. v. sig. H2 Though to Fortune neere be her Peticoate, Yet, nearer is her Smock. View more context for this quotation
1642 H. More Ψυχωδια Platonica sig. H Things near seem further off; farst off, the nearst at hand.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Pastorals i, in tr. Virgil Wks. 2 Like Shrubs, when lofty Cypresses are near.
1726 G. Leoni tr. L. B. Alberti Architecture I. 16/1 They ought..not..to stand nearer or more remote than Use and Necessity requires.
1794 A. Radcliffe Myst. of Udolpho II. v. 160 Now they come nearer.
1807 G. Crabbe Parish Reg. i, in Poems 49 Where noisy sparrows, perch'd on penthouse near.
1852 H. B. Stowe Uncle Tom's Cabin II. xxvi. 110 ‘Did Miss Eva say she felt more unwell than usual to-night?’ ‘No; but she telled me, this morning, she was coming nearer’.
1855 Ld. Tennyson Maud xviii. viii, in Maud & Other Poems 61 I have climb'd nearer out of lonely Hell.
1876 T. Hardy Hand of Ethelberta II. xlv. 221 Come away there,..what need have ye for going so near?
1890 H. Caine Bondman ii. x Near is my shirt, but nearer is my skin!
1909 G. Stein Three Lives (1970) ii. 71 There was uneasiness and fear and uncertainty lest some danger might be near.
1939 F. Thompson Lark Rise iv. 65 The railways had brought distant parts of the country nearer.
1981 M. Keane Good Behaviour xxxi. 202 I knew I was going to be near enough to touch the most famous gentleman rider of the day.
b. near and far: = far and near at far adv. 1b. Cf. near adv.1 2b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > distance > distance or farness > [adverb] > far and near
far and near or nighOE
near and farc1275
nigh and farc1400
c1275 (?c1250) Owl & Nightingale (Calig.) (1935) 386 (MED) Aȝte men..fareþ boþe ner an forre An ouer uareþ fele wode [read þode].
c1330 (?a1300) Guy of Warwick (Auch.) p. 570 (MED) He socourd þi fader in wer & halp þe boþe nere & fer Þo þou was fallen ful lawe.
c1455 Regiam Majestatem c. 45 Frely to pas quhar he will ner or fer.
a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid (1959) vii. xiii. 104 The rowtis for supple baith neir and far.
1812 J. Wilson Isle of Palms iv. 442 The music bands both near and far Are playing.
1895 S. Crane Red Badge of Courage xiv. 140 Suddenly there was a hollow rumble of drums. A distant bugle sang faintly. Similar sounds, varying in strength, came from near and far over the forest.
1941 J. Agee & W. Evans Let us now praise Famous Men 26 The land..was speckled near and far with nearly identical two-room shacks.
1988 Book Oct.–Nov. 18/2 This store..provides an anchor for the surrounding neighborhood and a magnet for literati near and far.
c. In phrases near at hand (also of time: cf. sense 7a), near together, †near-away.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > distance > nearness > near by [phrase]
nigh handlOE
of (also from, in) nigh?c1225
at the gate1340
near at handa1400
nearhanda1400
nigh at handa1400
nigh byc1460
nearbyc1480
on the doorstep1957
on the (or one's) doorstep1957
the world > space > distance > nearness > [adverb]
nighOE
anewstOE
nearOE
yhendeOE
hendc1175
hendena1200
anighc1275
besidesc1275
bihalvec1275
beside1297
narc1325
on (also upon) hand (also hands)c1330
bya1400
anighsta1425
nearabout?a1425
near-awaya1586
a hand1637
anear1798
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Fairf. 14) 15709 He is comande nere atte hande.
?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (Hunterian) f. 61v (MED) It semeþ þat he haþ but one orifice oþer hole, alle ȝif he haue two wunder nere to gidere [L. propinqua adinuicem].
c1450 (a1425) Metrical Paraphr. Old Test. (Selden) 1781 (MED) God sent vnto them veniance ten..than..The ix fell neyr at hand.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 821/1 Nere at hande, bien pres.
a1532 T. More p. 930 sig. B3, in J. Delcourt Essai sur la langue de Sir Thomas More III. 448 Written nere togither.
1564 in D. H. Fleming Reg. Christian Congregation St. Andrews (1889) I. 217 The deponar can nocht tell quhidder thai lay ner together or syndry.
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) ii. i. sig. O3 She drewe thether neere-away.
a1661 T. Fuller Worthies (1662) Wilts. 155 Country-People who live far off in our Land misapprehend them (distanced more then 12 miles) to be near together.
1670 S. Wilson Lassels's Voy. Italy (new ed.) ii. 40 I once saw it neere at hand.
1719 G. London & H. Wise J. de la Quintinie's Compl. Gard'ner (ed. 7) 215 To place them near together afterward in another Nursery-Bed, and cover them up with long Litter.
1733 B. Franklin in Pennsylvania Gaz. 20 Dec. 1/1 He receiv'd a Bucket of Water on his impudent Face. This was a fit Reward, as it was near at Hand and took up a little Time to give it.
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth VIII. 23 Others, whose time of transformation is also near at hand, fasten their tails to a tree, or to the first worm-hole they meet, in a beam.
1820 J. Keats Eve of St. Agnes in Lamia & Other Poems 87 The hallow'd hour was near at hand.
1841 C. Dickens Barnaby Rudge xxxvii. 149 Eyes so small and near together, that his broken nose alone seemed to prevent their meeting and fusing into one of the usual size.
1867 Lady's Friend May 309/2 It was very bearish to be sitting there alone, too, while scores of pretty girls were so near at hand.
1891 Daily News 31 Oct. 2/8 Near at hand parcels are being sold in considerable quantities.
1926 Amer. Mercury Apr. p. xxvii (advt.) He had the vision of a nation-wide telephone system by which people near at hand and far apart could talk to one another as if face to face.
1935 C. J. Smith Intermediate Physics (ed. 2) I. v. 861 The elementary magnets that are near together must be arranged so that one pole of a molecular magnet is near to another of the opposite kind.
1994 C. Paglia Vamps & Tramps 26 Disintegration into banditry is always near at hand, as was shown in 1989 in the notorious case of the Central Park jogger—a savage attack.
†d. Nautical. Close to the wind. Cf. near adv.1 1c. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > directing or managing a ship > use of wind > [adverb] > close to the wind
near1589
nigha1687
small1799
1589 Voy. W. Towrson in R. Hakluyt Princ. Navigations ii. 43 He looffed to, and was able to lie as neere as he did before.
1634 T. Herbert Relation Some Yeares Trauaile 25 The ship could lie no neerer then South-east.
1669 S. Sturmy Mariners Mag. i. ii. 17 Keep her as near as she will lie.
1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine No Nearer!, the command given..to the helmsman, to steer the ship no nigher to..the wind than the sails will operate.
1846 A. Young Naut. Dict. 218 Near. A term used, with reference to the steering of a vessel, to imply close to the wind.
e. so near and yet so far: apparently close but actually out of reach.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > distance > [phrase] > that may be reached > only apparently within reach
so near and yet so far1755
1755 W. Hay tr. Martial Select Epigrams i. 15 In the whole town no soul can be So near, and yet so far from me.
1850 Ld. Tennyson In Memoriam xcv. 145 He seems so near and yet so far . View more context for this quotation
1863 ‘Ouida’ Held in Bondage I. i. 25 The long sunny future that stretched before us in dim golden haze,—so near and yet so far from our young longing eyes.
1863 Harper's Mag. Dec. 93/2 Thou art so near, and yet so far!
1920 R. Macaulay Potterism i. i. 8 It was a curious age, so near and yet so far, when the ordered frame of things was still unbroken, and violence a child's dream.
1939 J. Joyce Finnegans Wake 213 I've lost it!.. So near and yet so far!
1962 E. Cleaver in Negro Hist. Bull. 25 128/1 The actual conditions to which they aspired were..all around them, as it were ‘so near and yet so far’.
1993 M. Glasscoe Eng. Medieval Mystics (BNC) 139 But it is a question of ‘so near and yet so far’ as Hilton adds that man is not near Christ or in him until he has actually found him.
7.
a. Of time: close at hand. Of an event: about to happen. Of a person: close in time (to an event).
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > particular time > [adverb] > at a particular or certain time > close to a particular time
neara1400
near upon1681
the world > time > relative time > the future or time to come > [adverb] > near in time > imminent or close at hand
beside1297
fast byc1300
neara1400
towards1468
hard by1535
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) 18023 Þe time es nu comand nere.
1415 in 43rd Ann. Rep. Deputy Keeper Public Rec. (1882) App. i. 584 in Parl. Papers (C. 3425) XXXVI. 1 Skrop said yer was but iij. wais ye tyme was so nere.
c1480 (a1400) St. Peter 328 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 16 As linus sais, his dede wes nere.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Rom. xiii. 11 For now is oure saluacion nearer, then whan we beleued.
1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. ccxxxij Thende of his lyfe drewe nere.
1609 W. Shakespeare Sonnets cxl. sig. I2 Testie sick-men when their deaths be neere.
1724 A. Ramsay Vision in Ever Green I. xvi How neir's that happie tyme?
1816 J. Wilson City of Plague i. ii. 114 I trust my hour is near.
1866 J. W. Carlyle Lett. III. 312 My heart failed me as the time drew near.
1875 B. Jowett tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) I. 497 Now the hour of sunset was near.
1949 H. Wilcox Six Moons in Sulawesi iii. 88 As the hour of dawn drew near it was time for her soul to make its journey to Puya, the Homeland of Souls.
1988 W. M. Clarke Secret Life Wilkie Collins i. 2 He sensed that the end was near.
†b. near upon: not far in time from. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > particular time > [adverb] > at a particular or certain time > close to a particular time
neara1400
near upon1681
1681 P. Bellon tr. F. de Monginot New Myst. Physick 4 A Physitian at Bruxells, did near-upon that time write against the use of that Remedy.
1739 H. Baker & J. Miller Impertinents iii. i. 238 I must to my Appointment: 'tis near upon the Hour.
1757 P. Bacon Tryal of Time-killers ii. i. 16 'Tis pretty near upon the Stroke of Four.
1814 H. F. Cary tr. Dante Vision III. xxi. 115 Near upon my close Of mortal life.
1880 G. Meredith Tragic Comedians II. vii. 108 Near upon morning he roused with his tender fit strong on him.
8. Closely connected by kinship or friendship. Esp. in near akin at Phrases; similarly near of kin (cf. akin adj., kin n.1 Phrases 2). Also in near and dear (cf. sense 17, and near adj. 1, 8). Also in extended use.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > love > [adverb] > closely connected by kinship or intimacy
near and dear?c1450
near1491
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > [adverb] > closely
nighOE
near and dear?c1450
near1491
nearly1561
1491 Act 7 Hen. VII c. 22 Preamble They be ner of kyn.
a1500 (?a1422) J. Lydgate Life Our Lady (Adv.) in W. B. D. D. Turnbull Visions of Tundale (1843) 102 His son schall..hys place to occupye Or ellis won that wer ner next of alye.
1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 420 He was so neere of the blood of king Richard.
1621 G. Hakewill King David's Vow 265 Though he were..never so neare and deare,..away hee must.
1687 A. Lovell tr. J. de Thévenot Trav. into Levant i. 55 The Turks never Marry their Kinswomen, if they be nearer than eight Generations inclusively.
1767 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. (new ed.) II. xiv. 219 The uncle is certainly nearer of kin to the common stock, by one degree, than the nephew.
1826 in W. Hone Every-day Bk. (1827) II. 1155 In company with one ‘near and dear’.
†9. With implied complement.
a. the nearer: closer to one's end or purpose. Cf. near adv.1 5. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > continuing > progress, advance, or further continuance > [adverb] > near to one's end or purpose
the nearer1593
1593 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie iv. xiii. 203 We are not a whit the neerer for that they haue hitherto sayd.
1630 tr. G. Botero Relations Famous Kingdomes World (rev. ed.) 88 A hungry belly may call for more meat, and be never the neerer.
b. to drive (a person) near: to force into some difficulty or extremity. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > difficulty > of difficulty: beset (a person) [verb (transitive)] > put (a person) in difficulty > reduce to straits
enstraita1500
plungea1513
to put or drive to a (or the) shift or shifts1553
to put (one) to (upon) his trump or trumps1559
to drive (a person) near1594
to put, drive, reduce, etc. to the last shiftsa1604
to be hard (also sorely, etc.) put to ita1616
press1672
pinch1693
push1761
1594 C. Marlowe & T. Nashe Dido i. i See, what strange arts necessity finds out! How near, my sweet Æneas, art thou driven!
c. to lie near: to be natural or reasonable. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > understanding > reason, faculty of reasoning > employ reason [verb (intransitive)] > be in accord with
it is to (good) sense?1552
it stands to sense1681
to lie near1862
1862 R. C. Trench Notes Miracles (ed. 7) xv. 257 It lies near to suppose that he was there, returning thanks for the signal mercy.
†*** Denoting manner.
10. Thriftily; parsimoniously, meanly. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > retaining > niggardliness or meanness > [adverb]
narrowlya1250
feeblyc1290
scarcely1340
straitly1340
strait1390
niggardly?1529
nighly1548
pinchingly1561
close-fisted1575
hard1580
niggishly1580
nearly1591
mincingly1593
costively1598
penuriously1616
neara1625
scantingly1627
parsimoniouslya1634
scrapingly1680
stingily1682
scrimply1690
sneakingly1695
churlishly1875
curmudgeonly1879
skinflintily1899
mingily1958
a1625 J. Fletcher Womans Prize iii. i, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Ooooo2v/2 If thou canst love so neer [as] to keep thy making, Yet thou wilt loose thy language.
1723 D. Defoe Hist. Col. Jack (ed. 2) 69 I had liv'd so near and so close, that..in a whole Year I had not quite Spent the 15 Shillings, which I had sav'd.
1826 J. Clare Let. 15 July (1985) 381 I will see if I can do without the £5 more... I do assure you that I live as near as euer I can.
1871 Routledge's Every Boy's Ann. 240 I and my wife may have to live a little nearer for the next month or two.
11. With the legs close together. Esp. with reference to a horse's gait. Cf. near-legged adj. Obsolete.The more usual term now is close.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > body or parts of horse > [adverb] > with legs close together
near1710
1710 London Gaz. No. 4785/4 Goes near before.
1740 H. Bracken Farriery Improv'd (ed. 2) II. i. 40 A Horse that goes wide before, and near behind.
1740 H. Bracken Farriery Improv'd (ed. 2) II. ii. 63 He should stand pretty wide behind, and near before.
II. With noun or noun phrase as complement. (In modern English grammar usually treated as prep.)
12.
a. Close to, within a short distance of (a place, thing, or person) in space.
ΚΠ
c1300 (c1250) Floris & Blauncheflur (Cambr.) (1966) l. 343 He wule come þe ner, And bidde þe pleie at þe escheker.
a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 473 Lamech..haued a man Ðat ledde him ofte wudes ner To scheten after ðe wilde der.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 3348 Rebecca..rade til þai come ner þe stedd.
c1400 (?c1380) Pearl 404 Meke arn alle þat wonez hym nere.
c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy 8075 The derf kyng Diamede drughe the lady ner.
1572 (a1500) Taill of Rauf Coilȝear (1882) 91 Into sic talk fell thay Quhill thay war neir hame.
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry ii. f. 94 The Almond is graffed not neare the toppe of the stocke, but about the middest.
1631 E. Jorden Disc. Nat. Bathes (1669) iii. 22 Although neer the Coasts it be depressed and lower than the Shore.
1682 Heraclitus Ridens 24 Jan. 1/1 I have seen many a lusty Cur troubled..when they have come near the Gallows.
1711 R. Steele Spectator No. 49. ⁋2 Our Coffee-house is near one of the Inns of Court.
1776 Trial Maha Rajah Nundocomar for Forgery 47/1 I who am a Bramin will not go near a Mussulman that is dead.
1839 G. Bird Elements Nat. Philos. 209 Those portions of the atmosphere nearest the earth.
1863 ‘G. Eliot’ Romola I. xx. 327 He lost no time in speaking as soon as she came near him.
1897 H. James Spoils of Poynton (1967) v. 55 She had never been near the place.
1927 C. A. Lindbergh ‘We’ i. 4 I had never been near enough a plane to touch it.
1955 E. Bowen World of Love ii. 46 She had gone on to make much of the rescued dress..finally hanging it near her window.
1988 Times of India 23 Feb. i. 3/3 Four persons were buried alive when earth caved in at the site being dug for a private hotel at Cart Road, near here, this afternoon.
†b. to lie (also come, go) near: to touch or affect deeply. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > intense emotion > affect intensely [verb (intransitive)]
settlea1300
sinka1375
soundc1374
sticka1400
to sit at (also close to, near, nigh, next) one's hearta1425
to lie (also come, go) nearc1475
set1607
to go (also come) neara1616
penetratea1616
c1475 (a1400) Sir Amadace (Taylor) in J. Robson Three Early Eng. Metrical Romances (1842) 38 (MED) To serue the pore folke ha was fulle bowne, For thay lay his hert nere.
1611–12 in R. F. Williams Birch's Court & Times James I (1848) (modernized text) I. 162 This went so near him, that it drove him into these diseases.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Two Gentlemen of Verona (1623) iv. iii. 19 No griefe did euer come so neere thy heart. View more context for this quotation
1722 D. Defoe Jrnl. Plague Year 133 Private Safety lay so near them, that they had no Room to pity the Distresses of others.
1849 W. E. Aytoun Heart of Bruce in Poems vi There is a freit lies near my soul, I fain would tell to thee.
c. figurative.
ΚΠ
1592 J. Lyly Gallathea iii. i. sig. D3 I thinke we came neere you when wee saide you loued.
a1627 T. Middleton Chast Mayd in Cheape-side (1630) i. 7 You'le steale away some Mans Daughter, am I nere you?
1685 R. Baxter Paraphr. New Test. Matt. xi. 11 John..being nearest the Kingdom of the Messiah.
1690 J. Locke Ess. Humane Understanding ii. xvii. 101 He has no more reason to stop, nor is one jot nearer the end of such Addition, than he was at first setting out.
1712 Philos. Trans. 1710–12 (Royal Soc.) 27 523 I cannot warrant the Micrometrical Measures of the Moon's Diameter..to be otherwise, than somewhat near the truth.
1889 J. M. Barrie Window in Thrums xx. 189 If you would cease to dislike a man, try to get nearer his heart.
1954 C. P. Snow New Men iv. xxviii. 206 ‘Don't you like extravagant people?’ she asked. ‘Yes,’ I said. ‘Unless it comes too near home.’
13.
a. Close to (a point in time); approaching.
ΚΠ
c1300 (?c1225) King Horn (Cambr.) (1901) 364 (MED) He schal wiþ me bileue Til hit beo nir eue.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) 1393 It sal be nere þe worldes end.
a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll. 13) (1990) I. 113 ‘Now, sir,’ seyde the damesell, ‘hyt ys nere nyght.’
c1550 Clariodus (1830) ii. 189 It was neir awcht houris in the day.
1662 E. Stillingfleet Origines Sacræ ii. i. §4 Persons who have lived nearest those times when the things were done.
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 127. ¶6 Walking abroad when she was so near her Time.
1833 H. Martineau Brooke & Brooke Farm (ed. 3) ii. 18 Setting out the table for dinner; for it was near one o'clock.
1850 Ld. Tennyson In Memoriam cii. 159 The time draws near the birth of Christ. View more context for this quotation
1905 J. London All Gold Canyon in Cent. Mag. Nov. With the passage of each minute he knew that by so much he was nearer the time when he must stand up.
1912 J. Conrad Some Reminisc. iv. 150 It was near breakfast-time.
1992 B. Morgan Random Passage ii. 39 One day near noon the store door is flung open and a blast of icy air proceeds Young Joe's bellowed announcement.
b. Close to, almost at or approaching (a state or condition).
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > relationship > similarity > [adverb] > almost or nearly > close upon or almost at (a state or condition)
nearc1480
c1480 (a1400) St. Lawrence 534 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 417 A kyrk..sic ned had of mending, þat it was nere þe done-cummyng.
a1525 (a1500) Sc. Troy Bk. (Douce) l. 3015 in C. Horstmann Barbour's Legendensammlung (1882) II. 302 Vlixes, þat deid was neire.
1635 A. Stafford Femall Glory 74 The House of David..was..neere utter extinction.
1661 R. Boyle New Exper. Physico-mech. To Rdr. Which is really so near a readiness, that part of it has lain at the Press these six months.
1736 J. Wesley Wks. (1830) I. 100 I apprehended myself to be near death.
1780 H. Walpole Let. to D. Dalrymple 11 Dec. He..took much notice of me when I was near man.
1823 F. Clissold Narr. Ascent Mont Blanc 22 The sun being now near his setting.
1902 J. Buchan Watcher by Threshold ii. 142 The hope was near fulfilment.
1936 J. Buchan Island of Sheep i. iii. 44 When I knew him he was nearer sixty than fifty.
1994 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 26 Feb. e3/2 (advt.) The successful candidate will be at or near completion of a recognized accounting program.
†c. to go (also come) near: (with infinitive as object) to be on the point of, almost to succeed in (doing something). Cf. sense 19. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > intense emotion > affect intensely [verb (intransitive)]
settlea1300
sinka1375
soundc1374
sticka1400
to sit at (also close to, near, nigh, next) one's hearta1425
to lie (also come, go) nearc1475
set1607
to go (also come) neara1616
penetratea1616
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 2 (1623) i. ii. 102 If you take not heed, you shall goe neere To call them both a payre of craftie Knaues. View more context for this quotation
1660 R. Sharrock Hist. Propagation & Improvem. Veg. 16 If a sharp spring chance to follow it may goe near to spoile all..the seed.
1699 N. Luttrell Diary in Brief Hist. Relation State Affairs (1857) IV. 482 It's thought that about 8 of the members will goe near to be expelled.
1741 S. Richardson Pamela III. xxxii. 223 Such another Example..would go near..to ruin the Devil's Kingdom in Bedfordshire.
1781 Earl of Malmesbury Diaries & Corr. I. 405 She goes near to think herself infallible.
1858 D. Masson Life Milton I. 602 The panegyrics themselves went near to prove it.
1889 F. Barrett Under Strange Mask II. xii. 34 It would go near to break her heart.
d. With gerund. Close to (doing something).
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > relationship > similarity > [adverb] > almost or nearly > on the point of doing something
near1667
1667 S. Pepys Diary 30 Nov. (1974) VIII. 553 By coach to Arundell-house to the elections of Officers for the next year; where I was near being chosen of the Council.
1762 H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Painting I. vi. 128 The comeliness of whose person was very near raising him to that throne.
1825 New Monthly Mag. 14 205 I must have gone very near convincing him.
1877 Scribner's Monthly 15 259/1 One instance came very near having a serious result.
1895 Bookman Oct. 23/1 He was perilously near showing his whole hand to the other side.
1956 M. Dickens Angel in Corner viii. 122 Joe was nowhere near being intoxicated, but he had drunk enough to feel restless.
1990 Amer. Accent 1 iv. 83 I was near passing out from anxiety.
14. Close to (a thing or person) in resemblance or achievement.
ΚΠ
c1300 Havelok (Laud) (1868) 990 (MED) Was..In engelond non hise per Of strengþe, þat euere kam him ner.
1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay Nauigations Turkie iv. x. f. 122v The people..are of complection neerer the blacke then white.
1632 W. Lithgow Totall Disc. Trav. ix. 387 Their language..is nearer the Latine, then the Italian.
1687 A. Lovell tr. J. de Thévenot Trav. into Levant d b There are but few in the Western Parts who come near him in that.
1709 J. Addison Tatler No. 100. ⁋3 Several who were Plumbs, or very near it, became Men of moderate Fortunes.
1815 W. H. Ireland Scribbleomania 250 Those..Approximate nearest the Great Judge of all.
1845 M. Pattison in Christian Remembrancer Jan. 71 Which of the more recent historians..have come near them in the vigour and truth which they threw into that history?
1895 G. Meredith Amazing Marriage I. ix. 101 The dirty sweaters are nearer the angels for cleanliness than my Lord and Lady Sybarite out of a bath, in chemical scents.
1929 Times 30 Dec. 9/4 The Peking man is considered to antedate Neanderthal man, and is held to be nearer the genus Homo than the Piltdown and Java types.
1954 G. Greene End of Affair i. vii. 46 My desire now was nearer hatred than love.
1991 Today 13 June 2/6 Bleasdale would rap his knuckles if he ever strayed anywhere near a Scouse accent during filming.
15. Closely related to, intimate with (a person). Cf. near (also nearest) (to) one's heart at heart n. 3b. Now rare.
ΚΠ
1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) v. l. 919 Off kyn he was and Wallace modyr ner.
1489 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (Adv.) i. 380 All him luffyt that war him ner.
1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 v. i. 65 I would humour his men with the imputation, of beeing neere their maister. View more context for this quotation
1660 T. Hall Funebria Floræ Verses sig. G2 Under Heavens Cope, There's none as I so near the Pope.
1960 C. Day Lewis Buried Day ii. 43 Places and things and sensations stand out more vividly than people, even those who were nearest me.
III. With a prepositional phrase introduced by to (also †unto) as complement.
16.
a. Close to a place, thing, or person, esp. in space or time. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > distance > nearness > near to [preposition]
nighOE
anentOE
atOE
yhendeOE
anewstc1275
nigh handa1300
neara1325
narc1325
againstc1384
nearhanda1400
towardc1400
towards?1447
nearhand?c1450
nearbyc1485
anear1532
anigh1583
under or in the shadow of1853
the world > time > relative time > the future or time to come > [adverb] > near in time > near or close to a point in time
neara1325
hard1535
onwards of1695
a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 1395 Laban cam to ðat welle ner.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 12647 (MED) Iesu was cummen neir Vn to þe eild of thritte yeir.
?a1475 (a1396) W. Hilton Scale of Perfection (Harl. 6579) i. iii. f. 3 (MED) Bihoueth þe..for to come to þat lif as nier as þou mihst.
1509 S. Hawes Pastime of Pleasure (1845) iii. 15 I..sawe a craggy roche Farre in the west, neare to the element.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Richard III f. xlixv The custome..nere to ye see is..on euery hill or high place to erect a bekon.
1600 J. Pory tr. J. Leo Africanus Geogr. Hist. Afr. iii. 171 Neere vnto the said plaine are diuers woods and forrests.
a1628 J. Preston Breast-plate of Faith (1630) 107 The neerer we draw to God in this life, the more pleasure we have.
1700 J. Dryden Chaucer's Palamon & Arcite i, in Fables 23 To Theseus Person he was ever near.
1710 G. Berkeley Treat. Princ. Human Knowl. §6 Some truths there are so near and obvious to the mind that [etc.].
1767 W. Harte Amaranth 166 Whether they nearer liv'd to the blest times [etc.].
1816 Ld. Byron Siege of Corinth iii. 9 Nearest to the wall..Was Alp, the Adrian renegade!
1852 H. B. Stowe Uncle Tom's Cabin II. xix. 28 Eva had come gradually nearer and nearer to her father.
1868 J. N. Lockyer Elem. Lessons Astron. (1879) iii. §16. 89 As the Moon's orbit is elliptical, she is sometimes nearer to us than at others.
1948 E. Waugh Loved One 5 ‘Arnold Bennett's debt to Zola’; ‘Fletcher's debt to Henley’. That was the nearest I went to the moderns.
1953 J. Wain Hurry on Down 24 He never seemed to get any nearer to being served.
1982 D. Clark Doone Walk 59 There's cliff all right, sir, but the path doesn't go all that near to the edge.
†b. to come (also go) near to: to touch, affect closely. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > prosperity > success > make a success of [verb (transitive)] > succeed in or achieve a purpose > almost or be on the point of
to have the game in one's hands1530
to come (also go) near to1600
1600 P. Holland tr. Livy Rom. Hist. xlii. xiv. 1123 In this last speech he came neere unto the LL. of the Senat, and touched them to the quick.
a1742 T. Story Jrnl. of Life (1747) 226 My companion remaining ill, and my concern for the yearly meeting in Maryland increasing, it came very near to me to leave him under these circumstances.
1770 tr. Josephus Jewish Antiq. ii. vi, in Wks. 84 Nothing went nearer to their hearts than to consider how basely they had dealt with so worthy a brother.
17. Closely related to one by kinship or some other connection, esp. in near and dear. Cf. sense 3 and near adj. 1, 8.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > love > [adverb] > closely connected by kinship or intimacy
near and dear?c1450
near1491
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > [adverb] > closely
nighOE
near and dear?c1450
near1491
nearly1561
the world > relative properties > relationship > similarity > [adverb] > almost or nearly
nigheOE
well-nigheOE
forneanc1000
well-nearc1175
almostc1261
nighwhatc1300
nearhandc1350
nigh handa1375
nigh handsa1375
as good asc1390
into (right) littlea1413
unto litea1420
nigh byc1430
nearbyc1485
near handsa1500
as near as1517
mosta1538
next door1542
wellmost1548
all but1590
anewst1590
uneath1590
next to1611
nearlya1616
thereaboutsa1616
welly1615
thereabout1664
within (an) ames-ace ofa1670
anear1675
pretty much1682
three parts1711
newsta1728
only not1779
partly1781
in all but name1824
just about1836
nentes1854
near1855
nar1859
just1860
not-quite1870
nearabouta1878
effectively1884
nigh on1887
?c1450 Life St. Cuthbert (1891) 7510 Walchere..was þe first seculere Þat was bischop to cuthbert nere.
1548 N. Udall et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. I. Matt. xii. 57 He is moste neere and moste deere vnto me.
1630 tr. G. Botero Relations Famous Kingdomes World (rev. ed.) 61 In this dangerous age, since every man is neerest, and onely neere unto himselfe.
1660 J. Gauden Mem. Bp. Brounrigg 241 Our inward garment, that should be nearer and dearer to us than our skins.
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 126. ¶2 With the Hazard of all that is near and dear to us.
1746 E. Haywood Female Spectator No. 22 (1748) IV. 197 Those persons so near and dear to him.
1818 W. Scott Heart of Mid-Lothian ix, in Tales of my Landlord 2nd Ser. I. 267 I bless God that I can think of it, even in the rack and ruin of a' that's nearest and dearest to me.
1855 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. xii. 230 Many of them near in blood and affection to the defenders of Londonderry.
1875 B. Jowett tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) III. 347 They are all of one opinion about what is near and dear to them.
1922 C. E. Mulford Tex xi. 156 He glowed with pride as he realised that he, perhaps, was nearer to Tex Jones than any man in town.
1951 R. Harling Paper Palace (1952) 127 She talked as any woman talks about that old, old subject nearest and dearest to herself.
1989 R. Hitchcock Fighting Cancer 87 The people can be, and often are, both near and very dear to me.
18. Close to something in respect of appearance or correspondence.
ΚΠ
a1547 Ld. Morley in F. Madden Privy Purse Expenses of Princess Mary (1831) p. cxxviii I haue sene one prayer translatyd of youer doynge of Sancte Thomas Alquyne, that..is so well done, so neare to the laten, [etc.].
1548 N. Udall et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. I. Luke x. 93 b He came verai nere to man, bothe seeyng and beeyng seen.
1601 J. Manningham in C. M. Ingleby & L. T. Smith Shakespeare's Cent. Prayse (1879) 45 Most like and neere to that in Italian called Inganni.
1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan i. viii. 38 Which is very neere to direct Atheisme.
?1751 Earl of Chatham Lett. to Nephew (1804) i. 2 I have..altered the..lines, in order to bring them nearer to the Latin.
1758 R. Dossie Handmaid to Arts I. 382 The hollow parts must be covered with a colour the nearest in appearance to gold.
1820 Examiner No. 654. 686/1 She comes near again to the excellence of her first performance.
1868 R. Browning Ring & Bk. II. vi. 165 Fool that's near To knave.
1895 Sir F. North in Law Times Rep. 73 23/1 The case which comes nearest to this of those I have seen.
1969 M. Bragg Hired Man (1972) i. vi. 48 In outlook and habit he was, to them, not indistinguishable from the labourers but certainly much nearer to them than to any other class.
1997 Victorian Soc. Ann. 1996 64/1 Gothic [architecture] with its constructional basis is much nearer to modern stuff with its steel and ferro-concrete.
19. to come (also go) near to: (with gerund as object) to be on the point of, almost to succeed in (doing something). Cf. sense 13c.
ΚΠ
1862 W. E. Gladstone Addr. & Speeches Manchester 3 They droop and come near to dying.
1890 Temple Bar June 282 This final stroke went near to overcoming her.
1934 D. Thomas Let. 9 May (1987) 130 They are not the words that express what I want to express; they are the only words I can find that come near to expressing a half.
1991 Lit. & Ling. Computing 6 17/1 We started thinking about the storage of the images, and came very near to choosing an analogue system.

Phrases

near akin: (a) closely related by blood or descent; (b) closely similar in character.Originally with near in sense 8 and akin as limiting adverb, but subsequently interpreted as akin adj. modified by near.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > [adjective] > closely
nareOE
nighOE
neara1375
necessarya1382
germanea1449
native1488
near of kin1491
tender1508
near akinc1515
cousin1590
affine1614
own1671
tight-knit1832
c1515 Ld. Berners tr. Bk. Duke Huon of Burdeux (1882–7) xliv. 147 How nere akyn art thou to the admyrall..?
1633 P. Fletcher Piscatorie Eclogs v. xiii. 13 in Purple Island Damon. Why should'st thou fear? Al. To Love Fear's neare akinne.
1694 W. Salmon tr. Y. van Diemerbroeck Anat. Human Bodies (new ed.) ii. 40 This distemper, which Forestus calls Purpurae, or the Purples is very near akin to the Measles.
1713 R. Steele in Guardian 25 Sept. 2/2 The Manufacture of Paper is very near akin to that of Linnen.
1723 I. Watts Serm. Var. Subj. II. x. 268 Those that are nearer akin to one another, especially in the same Family, as Brethren and Sisters, ought to look upon themselves under more peculiar and mutual Obligations to do Kindnesses to each other.
1859 R. Owen Lect. Classif. Mammalia App. B. 80 He might think that the orangs were nearer akin to man than the chimpanzees.
1878 R. W. Dale Lect. Preaching (ed. 3) iii. 63 Desultoriness and indolence are very near akin.
1926 Classical Philol. 21 19 A different suggestion..is that the pre-invasion dialect of Elis was Aeolic, but it is more probable that this was nearer akin to Arcadian.
1984 P. O'Brian Far Side of World (1994) 235 Gill was a reading man, nearer akin to Martin and Stephen than to most of the other sailors.

Compounds

C1.
a. In the sense ‘closely’ or ‘close at hand’.
† near-acquainted adj. Obsolete rare
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > distance > nearness > [adjective]
yhendeeOE
nighOE
hendc1175
nearc1400
propinquec1487
assisting1579
neighbour1579
propinquant1633
near-acquainted1639
indistant1644
nearhand1653
adjourning1816
propinquousa1832
nearby1858
propinquitous1867
1639 T. Fuller Hist. Holy Warre i. xiii. 21 Denmark and Norway neare-acquainted with the Arctick pole.
near adjacent adj.
ΚΠ
a1578 R. Lindsay Hist. & Cron. Scotl. (1899) I. 89 All vthir pairtis that war neir adiacent vnto him.
1725 R. Wolcott Poet. Meditations 61 The near Adjacent Rocks & Mountains quake.
1993 Proc. National Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 90 9067/1 Nonspecific binding was assessed in near adjacent sections which were processed identically.
near adjoining adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > distance > nearness > [adjective] > very near
nigh adjoinant1429
prestc1450
near-bordering1604
close1625
near adjoining1625
next door (to)1633
proxime1646
contiguous1779
proximate1836
juxta1860
1602 E. Hayes in J. Brereton Briefe Relation Discouerie Virginia 18 This intercourse also wil be soone drawen together by this reason: That neere adioining vpon the same coasts of Newfound-land, is the greatest fishing of the world.]
1625 K. Long tr. J. Barclay Argenis i. viii. 21 The King..walked in a neere-adioyning valley.
1830 M. W. Shelley Fortunes Perkin Warbeck I. i. 7 He led him through the opening glade to where a humble chapel and a near adjoining hut stood in the bosom of the thicket.
1881 19th Cent. May 779 The house may still be seen,..with an old timbered cottage facing it, and near adjoining a quaint brick-and-timber building.
† near-bordering adj. Obsolete rare
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > distance > nearness > [adjective] > very near
nigh adjoinant1429
prestc1450
near-bordering1604
close1625
near adjoining1625
next door (to)1633
proxime1646
contiguous1779
proximate1836
juxta1860
1604 M. Drayton Moyses iii. 67 The neere-bording enuious Amaleck.
† near coming adj. Obsolete rare
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > movement towards a thing, person, or position > [adjective] > drawing near
nighing1596
near coming1600
approximating1774
nearing1796
1600 E. Fairfax tr. T. Tasso Godfrey of Bulloigne i. lxvi. 14 Each soldier, longing for neere comming glorie.
† near-fighting adj. Obsolete rare
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > armed encounter > [adjective] > single combat or duel
singular1382
single1592
near-fighting1598
monomachica1610
duellary1612
close-handed1845
duellistic1852
1598 G. Chapman tr. Homer Seauen Bks. Iliades ii. 38 The bold nere-fighting men, who did in Pheneus liue.
† near-following adj. Obsolete rare
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > relative time > the future or time to come > succession or following in time > [adjective] > succeeding or subsequent > immediately following in time
nextc1300
foremostc1330
nextmost1576
ensuing1611
instant1613
contiguous1622
near-following1625
1625 K. Long tr. J. Barclay Argenis ii. iv. 75 Prodigies..by which the neere-following miseries were affirmed.
† near-guessed adj. Obsolete rare
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > conjecture, guessing > [adjective] > formed by conjecture > successfully
near-guessed1683
1683 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises II. 297 That with a near-guess'd strength in the tossing it up it may just Stand.
† near-resembling adj. Obsolete rare
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > relationship > similarity > [adjective] > closely resembling
emulous1398
close1719
near-resembling1739
lookalike1904
1739 G. Ogle Gualtherus & Griselda 96 The lovely Maid and near-resembling Boy.
† near-smiling adj. Obsolete rare
ΚΠ
1820 J. Keats Lamia i, in Lamia & Other Poems 10 Swift was seen..the guarded nymph near-smiling on the green.
† near stoned adj. Obsolete rare
ΚΠ
a1642 H. Best Farming & Memorandum Bks. (1984) 11 To have a care that they bee not too neare stoned or eare-mark'd.
† near-stored adj. Obsolete rare
ΚΠ
1729 R. Savage Wanderer ii. 27 Tho' dress, near-stor'd, its vanity supplies.
† near-threatening adj. Obsolete rare
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > relative time > the future or time to come > [adjective] > imminent, near, or at hand
towardc890
comingOE
at handc1175
hendc1175
hendc1175
short?a1400
likec1425
near present?c1450
hangingc1503
instant?1520
neara1522
approachinga1525
imminent1528
provenient1554
threatened1567
near-threateninga1586
eminent1587
impendenta1592
sudden1597
ensuing1603
dependenta1616
pending1642
incumbent1646
early1655
fast-approaching1671
impendinga1686
incoming1753
pendent1805
proximatea1831
simmering1843
pending1850
invenient1854
looming1855
forthcoming1859
near-term1929
upcoming1959
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) iii. xviii. sig. Ss8v The vnpitifulnes of his owne neere-threatning death.
† near-touching adj. Obsolete rare
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > intense emotion > [adjective] > affecting intensely or deeply
visceral1575
heart-burning1590
heart-scalding1594
heart-piercing1598
flint-moving1600
near-touching1615
penetrativea1616
penetrating1632
heartfelt1712
1615 Marriage & Wiving vii, in Harl. Misc. (Malh.) III. 267 These blood near-touching witcheries and inducements.
† near-ushering adj. Obsolete rare
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > aspects of travel > guidance in travel > [adjective]
menablea1393
guidinga1616
ushering1628
conducting1632
near-ushering1637
1637 J. Milton Comus 10 Could that divide you from neere-ushering guides?
b.
† near-coloured adj. Obsolete rare of much the same colour.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > colour relationships > [adjective] > almost same colour
near-coloured1606
1606 in J. Nichols Progresses James I (1828) II. 67 Themselves not farre unlike, and their horses neere-couloured and suited.
C2.
a. Prefixed to adjectives in the sense ‘almost, nearly, approximately’.
near-effortless adj.
ΚΠ
1966 Daily Mirror 24 May 4/1 (advt.) The near-effortless way to slim. Near-effortless because Pastils/808 make a slimming diet so easy to follow.
1973 L. Snelling Heresy i. i. 11 Andover, Yale, fine athlete.., captained the Yale crew, near-effortless Phi Beta key, et cetera.
2001 Express (Nexis) 5 Feb. 24 Playing at being Elvis is a quick, surefire and near-effortless way to earn much needed cool points.
near-human adj.
ΚΠ
1822 J. Neal Logan: Family Hist. II. iv. 139 ‘Forever, and ever!’ answered the mountain, immediately, in the very tones of a near human voice.
1994 S. Dawson Forsytes (1996) ii. xi. 344 The White Monkey looked at him with an expression of high irony in its near-human eye.
near optimum adj.
ΚΠ
1931 Amer. Jrnl. Sociol. 37 389 Drosophila, the fruit fly, will live longer in one-ounce bottles under standard and near-optimum conditions if from thirty-five to fifty-five flies are present.
1997 Proc. Royal Soc. B. 264 351/2 Continuous blocks of near optimum habitat for the host ant become rarer within the site.
near parallel adj.
ΚΠ
1842 U.S. Mag. & Democratic Rev. June 535 This case is a near parallel to that of the English suppressed reports.]
1904 Ann. Math. 5 167 Suppose the old and the new potential functions to be V and V0, shut S0 in between two near parallel surfaces.
1997 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) A. 355 539 It is of particular interest to note the near parallel particle lines of the jet.
near-perfect adj.
ΚΠ
1933 Amer. Econ. Rev. 23 131 Citation of the Stock Exchange as a near-perfect market cannot longer be made for sophomores.
1954 Sun (Baltimore) 15 May 26/1 Another ‘near-perfect’ murder with a script paralleling Baltimore's Grammer case.
2000 Ralph 7 July 141/1 Minimal roll, massive grip and near-perfect steering precision are all there, yet it's still so driveable.
† near-sinking adj. Obsolete rare
ΚΠ
1625 T. May tr. J. Barclay in K. Long tr. J. Barclay Argenis i. i. 3 Whom..The now neere-sinking Mariner inuokes.
near-true adj.
ΚΠ
1910 Cent. Mag. Apr. 891 Clothes and the Man. A near-true story. By Edith Rickert.
2001 Construction Equipm. (Nexis) 1 Mar. 18 The system is said to raise the boom to a near-true vertical path to allow quicker and more precise loading and dumping.
near-universal adj.
ΚΠ
1937 Jrnl. Higher Educ. 8 403/1 The brilliance and near-universal quality of their [sc. the old Greek philosophers] minds.
1964 Language 40 206 Many of these ‘near-universals’ involve structural relationships.
1998 Housing Agenda Apr. 15/1 The second key theme was the near-universal feeling that education was a let-down.
† near-wretched adj. Obsolete rare
ΚΠ
1611 B. Jonson Catiline iii. sig. F3 Ô neare-wretched Rome, When both thy Senate, and thy Gods doe sleepe. View more context for this quotation
b. Prefixed to adjectives used as collective nouns (with the and plural agreement).
near-great n.
ΚΠ
1918 W. M. Kirkland Joys of being Woman xiii. 140 I have heard of communities duly arranged for the requirements of writers..but are not such communities confined to the near-great?
1991 New Yorker 28 Oct. 94/3 It was Porter who carpet bombed pop music with the names of the great and near-great of city culture.

Derivatives

† nearlike adv. Obsolete rare
ΚΠ
1598 J. Florio Worlde of Wordes Almost,..veri-neere,..neerelike.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2003; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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adj.n.a1375v.a1522adv.1prep.1eOEadv.2prep.2c1175
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