Close

Part of speech: verb, adjective, adverb

Pronunciation: /kləʊz/

Definitions

1. To bring two or more entities into proximity or to terminate an activity while simultaneously restricting access or ending a conversation
2. To shut something to prevent entry or continuation ; to end a business, event, or session ; to block access or passage
3. To bring to an end or conclusion ; to seal off or fasten something ; to reduce distance between objects or people

Etymology: The verb "close" and the adjective that gave it a second life share a pedigree that goes back to a Latin word for barring a door. Latin "claudere" meant "to bar, block, close, enclose," and its relative "clavis" meant "key" or "bolt." English inherited an Old English verb, "clysan," meaning "to close or shut," but the form we use today was reshaped in Middle English by an adjective borrowed from Old French "clos," itself from the Latin past participle "clausum." So the verb and the adjective were fused into one word, with the original idea of fastening still audible in both. Its closest relative is "clause," a doublet that entered English separately, from the same Latin root. A clause is literally a closed-off unit of thought, which makes the connection easy to see once it is pointed out. The Greek "kleis," meaning "key" or "bolt," and German "schließen," meaning "to close, conclude, lock," come from the same ancient stock.

Synonyms: near, shut, intimate, nearby, adjacent

Antonyms: distant, far, open, remote, faraway