Nearby

How to spell nearby

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce nearby

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does nearby mean?

1. adjectiveSituated a short distance away; close at hand.
2. adverbAt or to a short distance away.

Nearby in a sentence

• adjective

  They parked in a nearby street and walked the rest of the way.

• adverb

  The children played while their parents waited nearby.

• adjective

  A nearby cafe stayed open late for the conference guests.

• adverb

  She lived nearby and could reach the office on foot.

Where does nearby come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is a transparent native English compound, built from two old Germanic words. 'Near' descends from Old English 'near', originally the comparative form of 'neah' meaning 'close', and is related to the Old Norse 'naer'; over time the comparative sense faded and 'near' simply meant 'close'. 'By' comes from Old English 'bi', meaning 'beside' or 'at hand', the same little word that gives us 'beside' and 'nearby' alike. The two were joined into a single adverb and adjective meaning 'close at hand' which became common from the early nineteenth century onward. Because both parts are everyday words, the only spelling point worth remembering is that modern usage writes it as one solid word rather than 'near by'.

How the word is built

• near (close in distance)
• by (beside, at hand)