What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Wake vs Near - What's the difference?

wake | near |

In obsolete terms the difference between wake and near

is that wake is to sit up late for festive purposes; to hold a night revel while near is immediate; direct; close; short.

As verbs the difference between wake and near

is that wake is (often followed by up) To stop sleeping while near is to come closer to; to approach.

As nouns the difference between wake and near

is that wake is the act of waking, or state of being awake while near is the left side of a horse or of a team of horses pulling a carriage etc.

As a proper noun Wake

is {{surname|lang=en}.

As an adjective near is

physically close.

As an adverb near is

having a small intervening distance with regard to something.

As a preposition near is

close to, in close proximity to.

wake

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) waken'', (etyl) ''wacan * Middle English wakien'', Old English ''wacian

Verb

  • (often followed by up ) To stop sleeping.
  • I woke up at four o'clock this morning.
  • * 1898 , , (Moonfleet) Chapter 4
  • How long I slept I cannot tell, for I had nothing to guide me to the time, but woke at length, and found myself still in darkness.
  • (often followed by up ) To make somebody stop sleeping; to rouse from sleep.
  • * Bible, Zech. iv. 1
  • The angel came again and waked me.
    The neighbour's car alarm woke me from a strange dream.
  • (figurative) To put in motion or action; to arouse; to excite.
  • * Milton
  • lest fierce remembrance wake my sudden rage
  • * J. R. Green
  • Even Richard's crusade woke little interest in his island realm.
  • (figurative) To be excited or roused up; to be stirred up from a dormant, torpid, or inactive state; to be active.
  • * Milton
  • Gentle airs due at their hour / To fan the earth now waked .
  • * Keble
  • Then wake , my soul, to high desires.
  • To lay out a body prior to burial in order to allow family and friends to pay their last respects.
  • To watch, or sit up with, at night, as a dead body.
  • To be or remain awake; not to sleep.
  • * Bible, Eccles. xlii. 9
  • The father waketh for the daughter.
  • * Milton
  • Though wisdom wake , suspicion sleeps.
  • * John Locke
  • I cannot think any time, waking or sleeping, without being sensible of it.
  • (obsolete) To sit up late for festive purposes; to hold a night revel.
  • * Shakespeare
  • The king doth wake to-night, and takes his rouse, / Keeps wassail, and the swaggering upspring reels.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (obsolete, poetic) The act of waking, or state of being awake.
  • * Shakespeare
  • Making such difference 'twixt wake and sleep.
  • * Dryden
  • Singing her flatteries to my morning wake .
  • The state of forbearing sleep, especially for solemn or festive purposes; a vigil.
  • * Dryden
  • The warlike wakes continued all the night, / And funeral games played at new returning light.
  • * Milton
  • The wood nymphs, decked with daises trim, / Their merry wakes and pastimes keep.

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) wacu.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A period after a person's death before the body is buried, in some cultures accompanied by a party.
  • (historical, Church of England) An annual parish festival formerly held in commemoration of the dedication of a church. Originally, prayers were said on the evening preceding, and hymns were sung during the night, in the church; subsequently, these vigils were discontinued, and the day itself, often with succeeding days, was occupied in rural pastimes and exercises, attended by eating and drinking.
  • * Ld. Berners
  • Great solemnities were made in all churches, and great fairs and wakes throughout all England.
  • * Drayton
  • And every village smokes at wakes with lusty cheer.
    Synonyms
    * death watch
    See also
    * arval, arvel

    Etymology 3

    Probably (etyl), from (etyl) , Icelandic ).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The path left behind a ship on the surface of the water.
  • The turbulent air left behind a flying aircraft.
  • (figuratively) The area behind something, typically a rapidly moving object.
  • * De Quincey
  • This effect followed immediately in the wake of his earliest exertions.
  • * Thackeray
  • Several humbler persons formed quite a procession in the dusty wake of his chariot wheels.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2011
  • , date=September 28 , author=Tom Rostance , title=Arsenal 2 - 1 Olympiakos , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=Alex Song launched a long ball forward from the back and the winger took it down nicely on his chest. He cut across the penalty area from the right and after one of the three defenders in his wake failed to make a meaningful clearance, the Oxlade-Chamberlain was able to dispatch a low left-footed finish into the far corner.}}
    See also
    * in the wake of * wakes

    Etymology 4

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A number of vultures assembled together.
  • See also
    * flock

    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

    *