Close

How to spell close

5 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce close

What does close mean?

1. verbTo shut something, or to bring it to an end.
2. adjectiveNear in space, time, or relationship; only a short distance away.

Close in a sentence

• verb

  Please close the window before the rain starts.

• adjective

  The hotel was close to the train station.

• verb

  The shops close at six on weekdays.

• adjective

  She stays in close contact with her former colleagues.

Where does close come from?

Language of origin: Latin

Close arrived in English from the Old French verb clore, 'to shut', and ultimately from the Latin claudere, which meant 'to shut' or 'to close off'. The same Latin root gave us a whole family of words about shutting and enclosing, including 'enclose', 'conclude' (literally 'to shut up' an argument), 'seclude', and even 'clause'. The verb sense, pronounced with a /z/, kept the original idea of shutting something. The adjective and adverb sense, pronounced with a softer /s/, grew out of the idea of a shut-up, enclosed space being tight and compact; from 'enclosed and near' it came to mean simply 'near' or 'at a short distance'. Both senses entered English in the 1300s and 1400s, which is why a single spelling now carries two pronunciations and two meanings.

How the word is built

• clos- (from Latin claudere: to shut)
• -e

Words that sound like close

They sound the same but mean different things, so the meaning decides which spelling to write.

• clothes: Items worn to cover the body, such as shirts, trousers, and dresses.