closeness
/ˈkləʊsnɪs/KLOH-snis
/ˈkloʊsnɪs/KLOH-snis
Meaningthe quality of being close
Common meaning: nearness
Other meanings: intimacy
- closto shut, closeLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 350 · scan
- nessnoun ending: the state of being
Journey through time
- Latinclaudō, clausī, clausum‘to shut, close’
- Middle Englishclosensource
- Englishclose‘to shut’
- Englishformed in English from closecloseness‘nearness’ · today
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: Formed in English from close + -ness.
Dictionary: Skeat (1898), CLOSE, p.115 · scan
Roots
- claudō, clausī, clausum Latin “to shut, close”
Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app