proximity

Pronunciation

• IPA: /pɹɒkˈsɪm.ɪ.ti/ (UK); /pɹɑkˈsɪm.ɪ.ti/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French proximité (“nearness”),^[2][3][4] from Latin proximitās (“nearness, vicinity”),^[2][3] from proximus (“nearest, next”), the superlative of prope (“near”) (see approximate and propinquity).^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Nearness in relations, as of kinship (proximity of blood): 1480, in Caxton's translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses, in Barnhart and the OED.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Nearness in space is from 1579.^[5] The Latin proximus also meant figuratively latest, next or most faithful.^[3] The proximity fuse, a radar-triggered detonator in a missile, is from 1945.^[5]

Timeline

• 1480 – nearness of kinship.^[2][5]
• 1579 – nearness in space.^[5]
• 1945 – proximity fuse.^[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Nearness in space, time or relationship; closeness.

Word family

• proxemics
• nonproximity
• proximity fuse
• proximity fuze

Related words

• approximate
• approximation
• proximate
• propinquity
• approach

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press