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The fact that the star closest in proximity to our sun (approximately 4.2 light-years distant) is named Proxima Centauri is no coincidence. The history of proximity hinges on the idea of closeness, both physical and metaphorical. English speakers borrowed the word from Middle French, which in turn acquired it from forms of the Latin adjective proximus, meaning "nearest" or "next." Close relatives of proximity in English include proximal, proximate, and the somewhat more rare approximal (meaning "contiguous"). A number of other languages, including Catalan, Portuguese, and Italian, have similar words that come from the Latin proximus.
Examples of proximity in a Sentence
Allison Tibaldi,
USA Today,
4 July 2026
When in a forest, stay in proximity to shorter tree groupings.
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Nc Weather Bot,
Charlotte Observer,
4 July 2026
Learning the Indonesian language, Bahasa Indonesia, is also part of the French team’s program, as linguistic proximity has already proven effective with other international partners.
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Prabhat Ranjan Mishra,
Interesting Engineering,
4 July 2026
Dazzling Venus would be invisible due to its proximity to the sun.
—
Joe Rao,
Space.com,
4 July 2026
See All Example Sentences for proximity
Cite this Entry
“Proximity.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/proximity. Accessed 6 Jul. 2026.
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proximity
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proximity
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