Adjoining

How to spell adjoining

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce adjoining

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does adjoining mean?

1. adjectiveNext to and sharing a border or wall with something else; immediately neighbouring.

Adjoining in a sentence

• The hotel booked the family into two adjoining rooms.

• Their flat shares a thin wall with the adjoining property.

Where does adjoining come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb adjungere, formed from ad-, meaning 'to' or 'toward', and jungere, meaning 'to join' or 'to yoke together'. The same jungere root sits behind a whole family of English words, including 'junction', 'conjugal', and even 'yoke' itself through a shared ancient ancestor. English took the verb 'adjoin' from Old French ajoindre in the 1300s, and the modern spelling later restored the Latin 'd' that French had softened away. The present-participle form 'adjoining' came to work as an adjective meaning 'lying next to and touching', which is its main use today. The spelling trap is the quiet 'd' tucked after the 'a', plus the 'oin' cluster, both echoes of that Latin original.

How the word is built

• ad- (to, toward)
• join (from Latin jungere: to join)
• -ing (present-participle/adjective suffix)