near

I can't see near objects very clearly without my glasses.

Stay near at all times.

At the end of the line nearest the Arch, under a flary light, stood an old bearded man having the look on his face of a kindly but somewhat irritated moo-cow.

The end is near.

The deceased man had no near relatives.

she is thy fathers neere kinswoman.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Leviticus 18:12:

A matter of near consequence to me.

a near friend

The Besht preached that the simple man, imbued with native faith and able to pray fervently and wholeheartedly with a sense of joy in his heart, was nearer and dearer to God than the learned but joyless formalist spending his whole life in the study of Talmud.

2017, Velvel Pasternak, Behind the Music, Stories, Anecdotes, Articles and Reflections, page 225:

Close to one's interests, affection, etc.; intimate; dear.

a version near to the original

Close to anything followed or imitated; not free, loose, or rambling.

a near escape

So as barely to avoid or pass injury or loss; close; narrow.

The two words are near synonyms.

The near front wheel came loose.

(British, in relation to a vehicle) On the side nearest to the kerb (the left-hand side if one drives on the left).

the near ox; the near leg

(dated) Next to the driver, when he is on foot; (US) on the left of an animal or a team.

Toward ſolid good what leads the neareſt way;

1673, John Milton, “[Sonnet] [Sonnet] XVII”, in Poems, &c. upon Several Occasions, London: […] Tho[mas] Dring […], →OCLC, page 61:

(obsolete) Immediate; direct; close; short.

Don't be near with your pocketbook.

[T]o let you know, Miss, he's so near, it's partly a wonder how he lives at all: and yet he's worth a power of money, too.

1782, [Frances Burney], chapter I, in Cecilia, or Memoirs of an Heiress. […], volume II, London: […] T[homas] Payne and Son […], and T[homas] Cadell […], →OCLC:

a near pointer

(programming, not comparable) Within the currently selected segment in a segmented memory architecture.

en-adj

near (comparative nearer, superlative nearest)

nearer (comparative)
nearest (superlative)

off

antonym(s) of “side of an animal or vehicle”

сходен

close to one's interests, affection, etc.

täpärä

so as barely to avoid or pass injury or loss

From Middle English nere, ner, from Old English nēar (“nearer”, comparative of nēah (“nigh”), the superlative would become next), influenced by Old Norse nær (“near”), both originating from Proto-Germanic *nēhwiz (“nearer”), comparative of the adverb *nēhw (“near”), from the adjective *nēhwaz, ultimately from Pre-Proto-Germanic *h₂nḗḱwos, a lengthened-grade adjective derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₂neḱ- (“to reach”).
Cognate with Old Frisian niār (“nearer”), Dutch naar (“to, towards”), German näher (“nearer”), Danish nær (“near, close”), Norwegian nær (“near, close”) Swedish nära (“near, close”). See also nigh.
Near appears to be derived from (or at the very least influenced by) the North Germanic languages; compare Danish nær (“near, close”), Norwegian nær (“near, close”) Swedish nära (“near, close”), as opposed to nigh, which continues the inherited West Germanic adjective, like Dutch na (“close, near”), German nah (“close, near, nearby”), Luxembourgish no (“nearby, near, close”). Both, however, are ultimately derived from the same Proto-Germanic root: *nēhw (“near, close”).


near

At or towards a position close in space or time.

He was near unconscious when I found him.

I jumped into the near-freezing water.

I near ruptured myself trying to move the piano.

[…] he hears for certain that the Queen-Mother is about and hath near finished a peace with France […]

1666, Samuel Pepys, Diary and Correspondence, published 1867:

Sir John Friend had very near completed a regiment of horse.

1825, David Hume, Tobias George Smollett, The History of England, page 263:

Peter ran after them as fast as his legs would carry him, but at last he had only one of the hares left, and when this was gone, he was very near burst with running.

1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 169:

Thinking about those pounds and pence, I near forgot my wound.

2003, Owen Parry, Honor's Kingdom, page 365:

"I damn near forgot." He pulled an envelope from his jacket.

2004, Jimmy Buffett, A Salty Piece of Land, page 315:

The fire was almost dead, the chamber near dark.

2006, Juliet Marillier, The Dark Mirror, page 377:

قَرِيبًا

at or towards a position close in space or time


near

There are habitable planets orbiting many of the stars near our Sun.

Ts'ai Ch'ien 蔡乾 was born in 1908 in Changhua near Taichung, Taiwan (Formosa).

1957, Edgar Snow, Random Notes on Red China, Harvard University Press, published 1968, →OCLC, page 103:

He entered the inn, and asking for dinner, unbuckled his wallet, and sat down to rest himself near the door.

This time was most dreadful for Lilian. Thrown on her own resources and almost penniless, she maintained herself and paid the rent of a wretched room near the hospital by working as a charwoman, sempstress, anything.

1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XVII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

It shied, balked, and whinnied, and in the end he could do nothing but drive it into the yard while the men used their own strength to get the heavy wagon near enough the hayloft for convenient pitching.

1927, H.P. Lovecraft, The Colour Out of Space:

Most of the Himalayan rivers have been relatively untouched by dams near their sources. Now the two great Asian powers, India and China, are rushing to harness them as they cut through some of the world's deepest valleys.

2013 August 16, John Vidal, “Dams endanger ecology of Himalayas”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 10, page 8:

Physically close to, in close proximity to.

The voyage was near completion.

His opinions are near the limit of what is acceptable.

There was no way Brín felt anything anywhere near what I felt for him. He saw me as a friend.


near

The ship nears the land.

We started back in the same conditions, and for part of the journey ran through semi-darkness, but the sun appeared once again as we neared London.

1964 May, Cecil J. Allen, “Locomotive Running Past and Present”, in Modern Railways, pages 331–332:

As he neared a bridge over the East Coast Main Line near Great Heck, he lost control. His Land Rover left the carriageway and veered onto the hard shoulder before biting into the grass verge.

2021 February 24, Greg Morse, “Great Heck: a tragic chain of events”, in RAIL, number 925, page 38:

(ambitransitive) To come closer to; to approach.

en-verb

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

nears (present singular third-person)
nearing (participle present)
neared (participle past)
neared (past)


near

The left side of a horse or of a team of horses pulling a carriage etc.


near

first-person singular present passive subjunctive of neō


near

second/third-person singular present indicative

inflection of neart:
third-person plural present indicative

inflection of neart:
second-person singular imperative

(with the particle lai) third-person singular imperative of neart

(with the particle lai) third-person plural imperative of neart


near

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

neane (definite plural)
ne (alternative)

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


near

A near a haapney to paay a peepeare.

1867, “THE WEDDEEN O BALLYMORE”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, page 93:

From Middle English nevere, from Old English nǣfre.

naar (alternative)
neer (alternative)
n'eer (alternative)
ne'er (alternative)
ne're (alternative)
neveare (alternative)