near
Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.
Letters
4 characters
Language
English
word origin
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Detailed reference entry for the English word "near", 4-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "near" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "near" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.
near is anEnglishadj. It means: Physically close. Pronounced /nɪə/. It ranks #514 in English word frequency. Often confused with nr and new.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | near |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adj |
| IPA | /nɪə/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #514 |
| Misspellings tracked | 5 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency rank visualization
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for near is 4 letters long, classified as anadj, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /nɪə/. Corpus data places it at rank #514 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language.Wiktionary records 12 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 5 documented wrong-spelling variants for near, with forms such as "enar", "naer", and "nearr". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "nr", "new", "nor", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English nere, ner, from Old English nēar (“nearer”, comparative of nēah (“nigh”), the superlative would become next), influenced by Old Norse nær (“near”), both originating from Proto-Germanic *nēhwiz (“nearer”), comparative of the adverb *nēhw … Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is near, spelled N-E-A-R, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Definition
- 1Physically close.
- 2Close in time.
- 3Closely connected or related.
- 4Close to one's interests, affection, etc.; intimate; dear.
- 5Close to anything followed or imitated; not free, loose, or rambling.
- 6So as barely to avoid or pass injury or loss; close; narrow.
- 7Approximate, almost.
- 8On the side nearest to the kerb (the left-hand side if one drives on the left).
- 9Next to the driver, when he is on foot; (US) on the left of an animal or a team.
- 10Immediate; direct; close; short.
- 11Stingy; parsimonious.
- 12Within the currently selected segment in a segmented memory architecture.
Etymology
From Middle English nere, ner, from Old English nēar (“nearer”, comparative of nēah (“nigh”), the superlative would become next), influenced by Old Norse nær (“near”), both originating from Proto-Germanic *nēhwiz (“nearer”), comparative of the adverb *nēhw (“near”), from the adjective *nēhwaz, ultimately from Pre-Proto-Germanic *h₂nḗḱwos, a lengthened-grade adjective derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₂neḱ- (“to reach”). Cognates Cognate with North Frisian nai, noi, näi (“close, near”), Saterland Frisian nai (“close, near”), Dutch na (“close”), naar (“to, towards”), Dutch Low Saxon nao (“after”), German nach (“after”), nahe (“near”), näher (“nearer”), German Low German nao, nå (“towards”), Luxembourgish no (“after”), Danish, Faroese, Icelandic, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk nær (“close, near”), Swedish när, nära (“close, near”), Gothic 𐌽𐌴𐍈 (nēƕ, “close, near”). See also nigh. Near appears to be derived from (or at the very least influenced by) the North Germanic languages; as opposed to nigh, which continues the inherited West Germanic adjective. Both, however, are ultimately derived from the same Proto-Germanic root: *nēhw (“near, close”).
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: enar,naer,nearr,nera,nnear
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
Relative frequency of common misspelling types for near
Misspelling Variants of "near"
Frequency rank: #514 in English
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Nearby English words
Other entries that begin with the letter N in our English index: