Nigher

Part of speech: adjective, adverb

Definitions

1. Closer in distance or time, used as the comparative form of an older word meaning near
2. Positioned at a shorter remove from a point of reference, or approaching a moment more closely
3. Comparatively near, describing something that lies at a smaller distance or arrives sooner than before

Etymology: "Nigher" is the comparative of "nigh," so its history is essentially the history of "nigh" plus a comparative ending. The Old English ancestor "nēah" meant "near" in both distance and time, and it is the same word that gave us "near." The two forms diverged over centuries: "near" kept the comparative "nearer," while "nigh" stayed in use, and "nigher" follows the older pattern of adding "-er" to it. That makes "nigher" and "nearer" doublets, two forms descended from one source that took different paths into modern English. The "-er" ending is the ordinary English comparative suffix, which has been attached to adjectives and adverbs since Old English. Adding it to "nigh" produced a form meaning "closer," so the word simply tells you that something is nearer in distance than something else. Because "nigh" itself has long sounded old-fashioned, "nigher" now sounds archaic and mostly appears in poetry, older prose, or deliberate imitations of such styles.

Synonyms: closer, nearer

Antonyms: farther, further