Wordwyrt

approximate

/əpˈɹɒksəmət/uh-PROK-suh-muht
/əpˈɹɑksəmət/uh-PRAHK-suh-muht

Meaningto come near

Common meaning: close but not exact

‘to, towards (form of ad-)’ + ‘nearest’ → approximate

Journey through time

  1. Latinproximus‘nearest’
  2. Englishapproximate‘close but not exact’ · today

ap- also in: appalapplyappeaseapplaudapprove

proxim also in: proximity

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Latin proximus ‘nearest’.

Roots

Related words

proximity

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