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neighbor - 7 dictionary results

neigh⋅bor

  [ney-ber]
Use neighbor in a Sentence
–noun
1. a person who lives near another.
2. a person or thing that is near another.
3. one's fellow human being: to be generous toward one's less fortunate neighbors.
4. a person who shows kindliness or helpfulness toward his or her fellow humans: to be a neighbor to someone in distress.
5. (used as a term of address, esp. as a friendly greeting to a stranger): Tell me, neighbor, which way to town?
–adjective
6. situated or living near another: one of our neighbor nations.
–verb (used with object)
7. to live or be situated near to; adjoin; border on.
8. to place or bring near.
–verb (used without object)
9. to live or be situated nearby.
10. to associate with or as if with one's neighbors; be neighborly or friendly (often fol. by with).
Also, especially British, neighbour.

Origin:
bef. 900; ME; OE neahgebūr, nēahbūr (nēah nigh + (ge)būr farmer; see boer, boor ); akin to D nabuur, G Nachbar, ON nābūi

Related forms:
neigh⋅bor⋅less, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To neighbor
neigh·bor   (nā'bər)   
n.  
  1. One who lives near or next to another.
  2. A person, place, or thing adjacent to or located near another.
  3. A fellow human.
  4. Used as a form of familiar address.
v.   neigh·bored, neigh·bor·ing, neigh·bors

v.   tr.
To lie close to or border directly on.
v.   intr.
To live or be situated close by.
adj.  Situated or living near another: a neighbor state.

[Middle English neighebor, from Old English nēahgebūr : nēah, near + gebūr, dweller; see bheuə- in Indo-European roots.]
Word History: Loving one's neighbor as oneself would be much easier, or perhaps much more difficult, if the word neighbor had kept to its etymological meaning. The source of our word, the assumed West Germanic form *nāhgabūr, was a compound of the words *nēhwiz, "near," and *būram, "dweller, especially a farmer." A neighbor, then, was a near dweller. Nēahgebūr, the Old English descendant of this West Germanic word, and its descendant in Middle English, neighebor, and our Modern English neighbor have all retained the literal notion, even though one can now have many neighbors whom one does not know, a situation that would have been highly unlikely in earlier times. The extension of this word to mean "fellow" is probably attributable to the Christian concern with the treatment of one's fellow humans, as in the passage in Matthew 19:19 that urges love of one's neighbor.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Neighbor

Neigh"bor\ (n[=a]"b[~e]r), n. [OE. neighebour, AS. ne['a]hgeb[=u]r; ne['a]h nigh + geb[=u]r a dweller, farmer; akin to D. nabuur, G. nachbar, OHG. n[=a]hgib[=u]r. See Nigh, and Boor.] [Spelt also neighbour.]

1. A person who lives near another; one whose abode is not far off. --Chaucer.

Masters, my good friends, mine honest neighbors. --Shak.

2. One who is near in sympathy or confidence.

Buckingham No more shall be the neighbor to my counsel. --Shak.

3. One entitled to, or exhibiting, neighborly kindness; hence, one of the human race; a fellow being.

Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves? --Luke x. 36.

The gospel allows no such term as "stranger;" makes every man my neighbor. --South.

Neighbor

Neigh"bor\, a. Near to another; adjoining; adjacent; next; neighboring. "The neighbor cities." --Jer. l. 40. "The neighbor room." --Shak.

neighbor

neigh"bor\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Neighbored; p. pr. & vb. n Neighboring.]

1. To adjoin; to border on; tobe near to.

Leisurely ascending hills that neighbor the shore. --Sandys.

2. To associate intimately with. [Obs.] --Shak.

Neighbor

Neigh"bor\, v. i. To dwell in the vicinity; to be a neighbor, or in the neighborhood; to be near. [Obs.]

A copse that neighbors by. --Shak.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : neighbor
Spanish: vecino,
German: der, *die Nachbar(in),
Japanese: 隣人
More Translations »

neighbor  (n.)
O.E. neahgebur (W.Saxon), nehebur (Anglian), from neah "near" (see nigh) + gebur "dweller," related to bur "dwelling" (see bower). Common Gmc. compound (cf. Du. (na)bur, O.H.G. nahgibur, M.H.G. nachgebur, Ger. Nachbar). The verb is first attested in 1586.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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