neighbor English · revision 7866

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=before 899}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈneɪ.bɚ/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English neighebor, [[inh|ang|nēahġebūr|t=one who dwells nearby]] (West Saxon) and nēhebūr (Anglian),^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) a compound of nēah, near (see [[nigh]]), and ġebūr, dweller, related to būr, dwelling (see [[bower]]),^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from Proto-Germanic *(ga)būraz, from PIE [[ine-pro|*bʰuH-|alt=*bheue-|t=to be, exist, grow]].^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000) It is a common West Germanic compound, compare Dutch [[m|nl|nabuur]] and German [[m|de|Nachbar]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(AHD 2000)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ One who lives nearby: before 899, in Alfred's translation of Gregory's ''Pastoral Care'';^(Barnhart 1988) nehhebure in the ''Peterborough Chronicle'' (1117).^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ AHD 4 notes that the West Germanic *nāhgabūr meant a near dweller, especially a farmer, and that the word has kept that literal sense although today one can have many neighbours one does not know.^(AHD 2000) The extension to a fellow human being is probably due to the Christian concern with the treatment of others, as in Matthew 19:19.^(AHD 2000) The verb, to live or be near, is from before 1586, in Sidney's ''Arcadia'' (the 1580s).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) ''Neighborhood'', friendly relations between neighbours, is from before 1425, and vicinity from 1577.^(Barnhart 1988) ''Good neighbor'' was used of United States policy toward Latin America by Herbert Hoover in 1928, and the ''Good Neighbor policy'' is attested by 1937.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 899 – nēahġebūr.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1117 – nehhebure.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * before 1586 – the verb.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1928 – good neighbor, of US policy.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A person who lives next to or near another.^(AHD)^(LDOCE 2009)

+ # A person, place or thing near or next to another.^(AHD)

+ # A fellow human being.^(AHD)^(AHD 2000)

+ # Used as a familiar form of address.^(AHD)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To lie close to or [[border]] on.^(AHD)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Situated or living nearby.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[neighborless]]

+ * [[neighborly]]

+ * [[neighborhood]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[nigh]]

+ * [[near]]

+ * [[boor]]

+ * [[bower]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Neighbor is the American spelling and neighbour the British one.^(LDOCE 2009)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}