different between near vs confidential

English

Etymology

From Middle English nere, ner, from Old English n?ar (“nearer”, comparative of n?ah (“nigh”)), influenced by Old Norse nær (“near”), both originating from Proto-Germanic *n?hwiz (“nearer”), comparative of the adverb *n?hw (“near”). Cognate with Old Frisian ni?r (“nearer”), Dutch naar (“to, towards”), German näher (“nearer”), Danish nær (“near, close”), Norwegian nær (“near, close”) Swedish nära (“near, close”). See also nigh.

Near appears to be derived from (or at the very least influenced by) the North Germanic languages; compare Danish nær (“near, close”), Norwegian nær (“near, close”) Swedish nära (“near, close”), as opposed to nigh, which continues the inherited West Germanic adjective, like Dutch na (“close, near”), German nah (“close, near, nearby”), Luxembourgish no (“nearby, near, close”). Both, however, are ultimately derived from the same Proto-Germanic root: *n?hw (“near, close”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) enPR: nîr, IPA^(key): /n??(?)/
• (US) enPR: nîr, IPA^(key): /n??/
• (near–square merger) IPA^(key): /n??/
• Rhymes: -??(r)

Adjective

near (comparative nearer, superlative nearest)

1. Physically close.

   I can't see near objects very clearly without my glasses.

   Stay near at all times.

   Synonym: close

   Antonym: remote

2. Close in time.

3. Closely connected or related.

   The deceased man had no near relatives.
4. Close to one's interests, affection, etc.; intimate; dear.

   A matter of near consequence to me.

5. Close to anything followed or imitated; not free, loose, or rambling.

6. So as barely to avoid or pass injury or loss; close; narrow.

7. Approximate, almost.

8. (Britain, in relation to a vehicle) On the side nearest to the kerb (the left-hand side if one drives on the left).

   Antonym: off

9. (dated) Next to the driver, when he is on foot; (US) on the left of an animal or a team.

10. (obsolete) Immediate; direct; close; short.
11. (now rare) Stingy; parsimonious. [from 17th c.]

    Don't be near with your pocketbook.

    • 1782, Frances Burney, Cecilia, II.iii.1:

      “[T]o let you know, Miss, he's so near, it's partly a wonder how he lives at all: and yet he's worth a power of money, too.”

Synonyms

• (physically close): see also Thesaurus:near

Antonyms

• (physically close): see also Thesaurus:distant

Derived terms

Translations

Adverb

near (comparative nearer, superlative nearest)

1. At or towards a position close in space or time. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
2. Nearly; almost.

   He was near unconscious when I found him.

   I jumped into the near-freezing water.

   I near ruptured myself trying to move the piano.

   • 1666, Samuel Pepys, Diary and Correspondence, (1867)

     […] he hears for certain that the Queen-Mother is about and hath near finished a peace with France […]

   • 1825, David Hume, Tobias George Smollett, The History of England, page 263

     Sir John Friend had very near completed a regiment of horse.

   • 2003, Owen Parry, Honor's Kingdom, page 365

     Thinking about those pounds and pence, I near forgot my wound.

   • 2004, Jimmy Buffett, A Salty Piece of Land page 315

     "I damn near forgot." He pulled an envelope from his jacket.

   • 2006, Juliet Marillier, The Dark Mirror, page 377

     The fire was almost dead, the chamber near dark.

Usage notes

The sense of nearly or almost is dialect, colloquial, old-fashioned or poetic in certain uses, such as, in many cases, when near is used to directly modify a verb.

Derived terms

• near-minimal pair
• near-sighted

Translations

Preposition

near

2. Physically close to, in close proximity to.
   • 1820, Mary Shelley, Maurice, or The Fisher's Cot:

     He entered the inn, and asking for dinner, unbuckled his wallet, and sat down to rest himself near the door.

   • 1927, H.P. Lovecraft, The Colour Out of Space:

     It shied, balked, and whinnied, and in the end he could do nothing but drive it into the yard while the men used their own strength to get the heavy wagon near enough the hayloft for convenient pitching.
3. Close to in time.

4. Close to in nature or degree.

   His opinions are near the limit of what is acceptable.

Usage notes

Joan Maling (1983) shows that near is best analysed as an adjective with which the use of to is optional, rather than a preposition. It has the comparative and the superlative, and it can be followed by enough. The use of to however is usually British.

Antonyms

• far from

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

near (third-person singular simple present nears, present participle nearing, simple past and past participle neared)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To come closer to; to approach.

Translations

See also

• near on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• para-
• nigh

Noun

near (plural nears)

1. The left side of a horse or of a team of horses pulling a carriage etc.

   Synonym: near side

   Antonym: off side

See also

• nearside

References

• near at OneLook Dictionary Search
• Joan Maling (1983), Transitive Adjectives: A Case of Categorial Reanalysis, in F. Henry and B. Richards (eds.), Linguistic Categories: Auxiliaries and Related Puzzles, vol.1, pp. 253-289.

Anagrams

• Arne, EARN, Earn, Nera, eRNA, earn, erna, nare, rean

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /?ne.ar/, [?neär]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /?ne.ar/, [?n???r]

Verb

near

1. first-person singular present passive subjunctive of ne?

Latvian

Verb

near

1. 2nd person singular present indicative form of neart
2. 3rd person singular present indicative form of neart
3. 3rd person plural present indicative form of neart
4. 2nd person singular imperative form of neart
5. (with the particle lai) 3rd person singular imperative form of neart
6. (with the particle lai) 3rd person plural imperative form of neart

Norwegian Nynorsk

Alternative forms

• ne n

Etymology

From Old Norse niðar, nominative and accusative plural of nið f (“waning moon”).

Noun

near pl (definite plural neane)

1. a lunar phase of an old moon, i.e. period of time in which the moon is waning

   Antonym: ny

References

• “ne” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Anagrams

• aner, Arne, Erna, nare, rane, rena, Rena

Yola

Etymology

From Middle English nevere, from Old English n?fre.

Adverb

near

1. never

References

• Jacob Poole (1867) , William Barnes, editor, A glossary, with some pieces of verse, of the old dialect of the English colony in the baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, J. Russell Smith, ?ISBN

English

Etymology

From Latin confidentia +? -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?k??nf??d?n?l/

Adjective

confidential (comparative more confidential, superlative most confidential)

1. Kept, or meant to be kept, secret within a certain circle of persons; not intended to be known publicly

   Synonyms: private, classified, off the record, privileged, secret, dern (obsolete)

   Antonyms: public, on the record

   • 1872, George Eliot, Middlemarch, Edinburgh: William Blackwood, Book 6, Chapter 61, p. 355,^[1]

     […] I have a communication of a very private—indeed, I will say, of a sacredly confidential nature, which I desire to make to you.

   • 1960, Muriel Spark, The Bachelors, Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1961, Chapter 10, p. 163,^[2]

     It would tell against your reputation, losing a confidential document, wouldn’t it? Why didn’t you keep it confidential if it was confidential?

2. (dated) Inclined to share confidences; (of things) making people inclined to share confidences; involving the sharing of confidences.
   • 1814, Jane Austen, Mansfield Park, Volume 3, Chapter 16, p. 310,^[3]

     Long, long would it be ere Miss Crawford’s name passed his lips again, or she could hope for a renewal of such confidential intercourse as had been.

   • 1851, Herman Melville, Moby-Dick, New York: Harper Brothers, Chapter 11, p. 60,^[4]

     I was only alive to the condensed confidential comfortableness of sharing a pipe and a blanket with a real friend.

   • 1905, Edith Wharton, The House of Mirth, New York: Scribner, Book 2, Chapter 2, p. 329,^[5]

     She and Bertha had never been on confidential terms, but at such a crisis the barriers of reserve must surely fall:

   • 1923, Arnold Bennett, Riceyman Steps, London: Cassell, Part 5, Chapter 2, p. 241,^[6]

     Miss Raste was encouraged to be entirely confidential, to withhold nothing even about herself, by the confidence-inspiring and kindly aspect of Elsie’s face.

3. (dated) Having someone's confidence or trust; having a position requiring trust; worthy of being trusted with confidences.
   • 1819, Walter Scott, The Bride of Lammermoor, Edinburgh: Archibald Constable, Chapter 8, p. 168,^[7]

     Now, they want me to send up a confidential person with some writings.

   • 1848, Anne Brontë, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, London: T.C. Newby, Volume 1, Chapter 18, pp. 320-321,^[8]

     This paper will serve instead of a confidential friend into whose ear I might pour forth the overflowings of my heart.

   • 1859, Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities, London: Chapman and Hall, Chapter 3, p. 11,^[9]

     […] perhaps the confidential bachelor clerks in Tellson’s Bank were principally occupied with the cares of other people;

   • 1924, Ford Madox Ford, Some Do Not ..., London: Duckworth, Part 2, Chapter 2, p. 245,^[10]

     I repeated the instruction by letter and I kept a copy of the letter witnessed by my confidential maid.

   • 1959, Kurt Vonnegut, The Sirens of Titan, New York: Dial, 2006, Chapter 6, p. 155,^[11]

     “He said he was a confidential messenger,” shouted a man.

Derived terms

• confidentiality
• confidentially

Related terms

• confide
• confidence

Translations