Etymologically
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proximity

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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
  • 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