# approach

> English word · Verb · IPA /əˈpɹəʊt͡ʃ/ · frequency rank #1,241

## Definitions
1. To come or go near, in place or time; to move toward; to advance nearer; to draw nigh.
2. To play an approach shot.
3. Used intransitively, followed by to: to draw near (to someone or something); to make advances; to approximate or become almost equal.
4. Of an immovable object or a number of such objects: to be positioned as to (notionally) appear to be moving towards (a place).
5. To move toward (someone or something) in place, time, character, or value; to draw nearer to.
6. To bring (something) near something else; to cause (something) to draw near.
7. Used when defining limits, preceded by as: To become arbitrarily close to some value, be it a number, vector or infinity and have an effect on another value.
8. To attempt to make (a policy) or solve (a problem).
9. To bring up or propose to (someone) an idea, question, request, etc.
10. To have sexual intercourse with (someone).
11. To take approaches to (a place); to move towards (a place) by using covered roads, trenches, or other works.

## Etymology
From Middle English aprochen, borrowed from Old French aprochier (modern French approcher), from Late Latin appropiāre, a verb based on Latin prope (“near”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pro- (a variant of *per- (“before, in front; first”)) + *-kʷe (“suffix forming distributives from interrogatives”)).

## Easily confused with
- **approaches** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/approach-vs-approaches)
- **approached** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/approach-vs-approached)

## Common misspellings (10)
`apporach`, `appraoch`, `approacch`, `approachh`, `approahc`, `approcah`, `apprroach`, `aproach`, `aprpoach`, `paproach`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/approach