vicinity
noun
Did you know?
Howdy, neighbor! Today we cozy up to vicinity, a word with neighborly origins that was welcomed into English as a French import in the 16th century from Middle French vicinité. It comes ultimately from Latin vicus, meaning "row of houses" or "village," by way of Latin vicinus, meaning "neighboring." Other descendants of vicinus in English include vicinal (a synonym of local) and vicinage, a synonym of vicinity in the sense of "a neighboring or surrounding district." Both of these are formal and rare, but vicinage is notable for giving title to the Vicinage Clause, a segment of the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution that entitles an accused person to "an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law."
Examples of vicinity in a Sentence
Jackie Wattles, CNN Money, 9 Feb. 2026
Beyond the rooms, the hotel sources both food- and non-food products from around the vicinity, and minimizes wood waste by donating it or incorporating it into various dishes and drinks.
—Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 7 Feb. 2026
The suspects also provided images of counterfeit passports and passport cards, with metadata that indicated the images were taken inside or within the immediate vicinity of El Primo Restaurant — a restaurant operated by Raul Fernandez Vicioso in Leominster, Massachusetts, federal prosecutors said.
—Louis Casiano, FOXNews.com, 3 Feb. 2026
Defend the 612 members witnessed as much when Renee Good—whose name and likeness appeared on a profile in one of its Signal chats—was killed by an ICE officer after driving her car in his vicinity and refusing to heed his instructions.
—Christina Buttons, Washington Post, 3 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for vicinity
Cite this Entry
“Vicinity.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vicinity. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
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vicinity
noun
