approximate.
Approaching; proximate; nearly resembling.
Meaning & usage
Approaching; proximate; nearly resembling.
Nearing correctness; nearly exact; not perfectly accurate.
approximate results or values
NASA’s Genesis spacecraft has on board an ion monitor to record the speed, density, temperature and approximate composition of the solar wind ions.
Drawn close together, but not united.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd Proto-Italic *ad Proto-Italic *ad- Latin ad- Latin proximō Latin approximō Latin approximātusder. Middle English approximat English approximate From Middle English approximat(e) (“close, near (to); similar; intimate”, also used as the past participle of approximaten), from Latin approximātus, the perfect passive participle of approximō (see -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), further from ad- (“to, towards, at”) + proximō (“to come near”). The noun was derived from the adjective through substantivization, see -ate (noun-forming suffix). See also proximate. By surface analysis, ap- + proximate.
An approximate result or quantity.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd Proto-Italic *ad Proto-Italic *ad- Latin ad- Latin proximō Latin approximō Latin approximātusder. Middle English approximat English approximate From Middle English approximat(e) (“close, near (to); similar; intimate”, also used as the past participle of approximaten), from Latin approximātus, the perfect passive participle of approximō (see -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), further from ad- (“to, towards, at”) + proximō (“to come near”). The noun was derived from the adjective through substantivization, see -ate (noun-forming suffix). See also proximate. By surface analysis, ap- + proximate.
To estimate.
I approximated the value of pi by taking 22 divided by 7.
To come near to; to approach.
To carry or advance near; to cause to approach.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English approximaten (“to bring, put close (to)”), from approximat(e) (“close, near (to); similar; intimate”, also used as the past participle of approximaten) + -en (verb-forming suffix), borrowed from Latin approximātus, see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and Etymology 1 for more.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.