proximate

[ prok-suh-mit ]

adjective

1. next; nearest; immediately before or after in order, place, occurrence, etc.
2. close; very near.
3. approximate; fairly accurate.
4. forthcoming; imminent.

proximate

/ ˈprɒksɪmɪt /

adjective

1. next or nearest in space or time
2. very near; close
3. immediately preceding or following in a series
4. See approximate
   a less common word for approximate

Derived Forms

• ˈproximateness, noun
• ˌproxiˈmation, noun
• ˈproximately, adverb

Other Words From

• proxi·mate·ly adverb
• proxi·mate·ness noun
• prox·i·ma·tion [prok-s, uh, -, mey, -sh, uh, n], noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of proximate¹

1590–1600; < Late Latin proximātus, past participle of proximāre to near, approach. See proximal, -ate ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of proximate¹

C16: from Late Latin proximāre to draw near, from Latin proximus next, from prope near

Example Sentences

The more proximate causes of the pollution deaths include pneumonia, stroke, and heart disease.

From Freakonomics

Amenities often include picnic tables, fire pits, nearby tent areas, and a proximate water source.

From Outside Online

The proximate cause of this year’s drought is a weak summer monsoon coupled with La Niña conditions that steered storms north.

From MIT Technology Review

The proximate cause of Texas’s grid failure is now well understood.

From MIT Technology Review

The sample groups in both studies were small, and in the overwhelming number of cases of coronavirus death, heart failure is not the proximate cause.

From Time

It brings out the distance and doubt that festered within the proximate intimacy of the Marston family.

From The Daily Beast

This summons all the proximate Beyoncé voters, as we reply in a full-throated roar, “ALLLLLL THE SINGLE LAAAAADIES!”

From The Daily Beast

If anything, the opposite is true: one has to love power desperately to accept a job merely to be proximate to it.

From The Daily Beast

But it will not stop the mentally ill from reaping carnage because the proximate cause of their carnage is disease, not hardware.

From The Daily Beast

The rising cost of health insurance is the proximate cause of middle-class income stagnation.

From The Daily Beast

Ultimate causes, of course, will be overlooked; only proximate causes will be noticed.

From Project Gutenberg

This need not be the ultimate mover, but a proximate one having a particular function.

From Project Gutenberg

A relation exists only between things of the same proximate species, as between white and black.

From Project Gutenberg

And this consideration begets love, which is the proximate cause of devotion.

From Project Gutenberg

That proximate circles or larger groups are connected by the intervention of lesser groups, which he denominates osculant.

From Project Gutenberg