vicinity English · revision 39574

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1560, J. Daus's translation of J. Sleidane's Commentaries|origins=la vīcus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * UK: /vɪˈsɪnɪti/^(Wiktionary)

+ * US: /vəˈsɪnəti/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|vīcīnitās|t=neighbourhood, nearness]],^(OED 2026)^(Collins 2023)^(Klein 1966)^(SOED 2002) partly through [[m|frm|vicinité]] according to Etymonline, Barnhart and Merriam-Webster.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) The Latin noun is formed on [[m|la|vīcīnus|t=neighbouring; a neighbour]], from [[m|la|vīcus|t=group of houses, village]],^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2024)^(Ayto 2005) which is related to [[wick]], an element of place names in England.^(Etymonline)^(Ayto 2005)^(Weekley 1921) It goes back to the root [[ine-pro|*weik-|t=clan, settlement]],^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2024) and Barnhart's full edition lists [[grc|οἶκος|tr=oîkos|t=house]] among its cognates.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Nearness in space: 1560, in J. Daus's translation of J. Sleidane's ''Commentaries''.^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)^(Barnhart 1988) Etymonline dates the word to the 1550s^(Etymonline) and Dictionary.com to 1550–60.^(Dictionary.com 2016)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From 1594 to 1676 ''vicinity'' could also mean nearness in kind, a close relationship or resemblance, a sense now obsolete.^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002) Johnson (1755) gave two senses, "nearness" and "neighbourhood".^(Johnson 1755) The concrete sense, the surrounding district, is found in Thomas Jefferson's correspondence in 1781,^(OED 2026) and the phrase ''in the vicinity of'' is found in 1796;^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) by 1817 the phrase could refer to a number or amount near a given figure.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1560 – nearness in space;^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024) the 1550s in Etymonline.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1594 – nearness in kind, resemblance (until 1676).^(OED 2026)

+ * 1781 – a neighbourhood or surrounding district.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1796 – ''in the vicinity of''.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1817 – approximately (of an amount).^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The surrounding or nearby [[area]]; the [[neighbourhood]]: ''No shops are open in the vicinity after nine.''^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002)

+ # The state of being near; [[proximity]].^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # Near to, or (of an amount) about, in the phrase ''in the vicinity of'': ''The repairs will cost in the vicinity of a thousand pounds.''^(SOED 2002)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[vicinage]]

+ * [[vicinal]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}