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Near vs Next - What's the difference?

near | next |

As nouns the difference between near and next

is that near is the left side of a horse or of a team of horses pulling a carriage etc while next is the one that follows after this one.

As adjectives the difference between near and next

is that near is physically close while next is following in a sequence.

As adverbs the difference between near and next

is that near is having a small intervening distance with regard to something while next is in a time, place or sequence closest or following.

As prepositions the difference between near and next

is that near is close to, in close proximity to while next is on the side of; next to.

As a verb near

is to come closer to; to approach.

As a determiner next is

the one immediately following the current or most recent one.

near

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • The left side of a horse or of a team of horses pulling a carriage etc.
  • Synonyms

    * near side

    Antonyms

    * off side

    See also

    * nearside

    Adjective

    (er)
  • Physically close.
  • * Dryden
  • He served great Hector, and was ever near , / Not with his trumpet only, but his spear.
  • Closely connected or related.
  • * Bible, Leviticus xviii. 12
  • She is thy father's near kinswoman.
  • Close to one's interests, affection, etc.; intimate; dear.
  • a near friend
  • Close to anything followed or imitated; not free, loose, or rambling.
  • a version near to the original
  • So as barely to avoid or pass injury or loss; close; narrow.
  • a near escape
  • (of an event) Approaching.
  • The end is near .
  • Approximate, almost.
  • The two words are near synonyms.
  • (dated) Next to the driver, when he is on foot; (US) on the left of an animal or a team.
  • the near''' ox; the '''near leg
  • (obsolete) Immediate; direct; close; short.
  • * Milton
  • the nearest way
  • (obsolete, slang) Stingy; parsimonious.
  • Antonyms

    * remote

    Derived terms

    * near abroad * near-death experience * near-Earth object * Near East * near infrared * near-minimal pair * near miss * near the knuckle * nearly * nearness

    Adverb

    (er)
  • Having a small intervening distance with regard to something.
  • I'm near -sighted.
  • (colloquial) nearly
  • * 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 p. 263
  • Sir John Friend had very near completed a regiment of horse.
  • * 2003 Owen Parry Honor's Kingdom p. 365
  • Thinking about those pounds and pence, I near forgot my wound.
  • * 2004 Jimmy Buffett A Salty Piece of Land p. 315, p. 35
  • "I damn near forgot." He pulled an envelope from his jacket.
  • * 2006 Juliet Marillier The Dark Mirror p. 377
  • The fire was almost dead, the chamber near dark.

    Derived terms

    * nearsighted

    Preposition

    (English prepositions)
  • Close to, in close proximity to.
  • * 1820 , (Mary Shelley), :
  • He entered the inn, and asking for dinner, unbuckled his wallet, and sat down to rest himself near the door.
  • * , chapter=17
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=This time was most dreadful for Lilian. Thrown on her own resources and almost penniless, she maintained herself and paid the rent of a wretched room near the hospital by working as a charwoman, sempstress, anything.}}
  • * 1927 , , :
  • 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.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-16, author= John Vidal
  • , volume=189, issue=10, page=8, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Dams endanger ecology of Himalayas , passage=Most of the Himalayan rivers have been relatively untouched by dams near their sources. Now the two great Asian powers, India and China, are rushing to harness them as they cut through some of the world's deepest valleys.}}
  • Close to in time.
  • 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

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To come closer to; to approach.
  • The ship nears the land.

    See also

    * (wikipedia) * para- * nigh

    References

    * 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.

    Statistics

    *

    next

    English

    Alternative forms

    * (l) (dialectal) * (l) (Scotland)

    Adjective

    (-)
  • Following in a sequence.
  • Being closer to the present location than all other items.
  • * , chapter=8
  • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients , passage=Philander went into the next room, which was just a lean-to hitched on to the end of the shanty, and came back with a salt mackerel that dripped brine like a rainstorm. Then he put the coffee pot on the stove and rummaged out a loaf of dry bread and some hardtack.}}
  • Nearest following (of date, time, space or order).
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-20, volume=408, issue=8845, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Out of the gloom , passage=[Rural solar plant] schemes are of little help to industry or other heavy users of electricity. Nor is solar power yet as cheap as the grid. For all that, the rapid arrival of electric light to Indian villages is long overdue. When the national grid suffers its next huge outage, as it did in July 2012 when hundreds of millions were left in the dark, look for specks of light in the villages.}}
  • (figuratively) Following in a hypothetical sequence of some kind.
  • *
  • Antonyms

    * previous * (closest to seven days ahead) last, this

    Determiner

    (en determiner)
  • The one immediately following the current or most recent one
  • Next week would be a good time to meet.
    I'll know better next time.
  • Closest to seven days (one week) in the future.
  • The party is next Tuesday; that is, not this Tuesday, but nine days from now.

    Adverb

    (-)
  • In a time, place or sequence closest or following.
  • They live in the next closest house.
    It's the next best thing to ice cream.
    Next , we stripped off the old paint.
  • On the first subsequent occasion,
  • Financial panic, earthquakes, oil spills, riots. What comes next ?
    When we next meet, you'll be married.

    Antonyms

    * previously

    Preposition

    (English prepositions)
  • On the side of; next to.
  • * 1900 , The Iliad, edited, with apparatus criticus, prolegomena, notes, and appendices , translated by Walter Leaf (London, Macmillan), notes on line 558 of book 2:
  • The fact that the line cannot be original is patent from the fact that Aias in the rest of the Iliad is not encamped next the Athenians .

    Noun

    (-)
  • The one that follows after this one.
  • ''Next , please, don't hold up the queue!