propinquity
Americannoun
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nearness in place; proximity.
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nearness of relation; kinship.
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affinity of nature; similarity.
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nearness in time.
noun
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nearness in place or time
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nearness in relationship
Etymology
Origin of propinquity
First recorded in 1400–1450; Middle English, from Old French propinquite, from Latin propinquitās “nearness,” equivalent to propinqu(us) “near, nearby,” from prop(e) “near” + -inquus adjective suffix) + -itās -ity; pro-
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The explanation for their propinquity lies not in the creation of some whiz-bang, life-changing, paradigm-bending consumer product, or the shining virtues or particularly fertile minds that grace Silicon Valley’s fruited plain.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 26, 2025
To borrow the title of Scott Eyman’s smart, generous chronicle, they became “Hank & Jim,” a pair of guys who asked nothing of each other but propinquity.
From Washington Post • Nov. 17, 2017
Being a young creator of any kind is all about cheap rent and propinquity.
From New York Times • Apr. 17, 2017
Commenting on Louis Blériot’s crossing of the English Channel in 1909, the Independent of London suggested that air travel would lead to peace because the airplane “creates propinquity, and propinquity begets love rather than hate.”
From Slate • Jun. 17, 2013
Living in immediate propinquity to the happy lovers would of course be intolerable.
From The Whirligig of Time by Williams, Wayland Wells
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
