neighbour
English · Thesaurus
AI In plain words
Writing a short explanation…
Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
neighbour
- /ˈneɪbə/ UK
- /ˈneɪbɚ/ US
Rhymes with -eɪbə(ɹ)
Where it comes from
From Middle English neighebour, neighbour, neyghebour, from Old English nēahġebūr (“neighbour”), from Proto-West Germanic *nāhwagabūrō, from Proto-Germanic *nēhwagabūrô (“neighbour”, literally “near-dweller”), from *nēhwaz (“close, near”) + *gabūrô (“dweller”). Equivalent to nigh (“near”) + bower (“farmer”).
Cognates
Cognate with Scots nebour, neebour, neibour (“neighbour”), Yola nipore, nypore (“neighbour”), North Frisian Naiber, naibüür, näiber (“neighbour”), Saterland Frisian Noaber (“neighbour”), Alemannic German Naachpuur, Nochbär (“neighbour”), Central Franconian Nohber (“neighbour”), Dutch nabuur (“neighbour”), Low German Naber, Nahwer (“neighbour”), German Nachbar (“neighbour”), Luxembourgish Noper (“neighbour”), Vilamovian nokwer, nökver, nökwer (“neighbour”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish nabo (“neighbour”), Faroese nábúgvi (“neighbour”), Icelandic nábúi (“neighbour”), Manx naboo (“neighbour”), Scottish Gaelic nàbaidh (“neighbour”), Estonian naaber (“neighbour”), Finnish naapuri (“neighbour”).
Eclipsed non-native Middle English prome (“neighbour”), borrowed from Old French proeme, proime, proisme (“neighbour”) (<< Latin proximus (“nearest, next”).
noun neighbours · neighbor · neighba · neyghbour · naybour · neibor
- A person living on adjacent or nearby land; a person situated adjacently or nearby; anything (of the same type of thing as the subject) in an adjacent or nearby position. My neighbour has two noisy cats.
- One who is near in sympathy or confidence. Buckingham / No more shall be the neighbour to my counsel.
- A fellow human being. 1982, Bible (NKJV), Leviticus 19:18, You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.
- Anything located directly adjacent to something else. The flood fill algorithm fills an area with colour by starting at one pixel and recursively visiting its neighbours.
Similar: bydweller, fellow human being, fellow, fellow man · Opposite: stranger, foreigner
verb neighbours · neighbouring · neighboured · neighbor · neighba
- To be adjacent to Though France neighbours Germany, its culture is significantly different.
- To be similar to, to be almost the same as. That sort of talk is neighbouring on treason.
- To associate intimately with; to be close to. […] the barbarous Scythyan, […] / Shall bee as well neighbour’d, pittyed and relieued / As thou my ſometime daughter.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: neighboring, neighbor, near, close, neighborhood, neighbourliness, neighbourhood, adjacent, adjoining, contiguous, vicinity, next, proximity, nearby, neighbourly, good-neighbourliness
noun
Similar: bydweller, fellow human being, fellow, fellow man · Opposite: stranger, foreigner
Translations
Every language
noun a person living on adjacent or nearby land
| Español | vecino, vecina |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 이웃 사람 iut saram, 이웃 iut |
| 日本語 | 隣人 rinjin, 隣の人 tonari no hito, 近所の人 kinjo no hito, 隣家の人 rinka no hito |
| 中文 | 鄰居 /邻居 línjū, 比鄰 /比邻 bǐlín, bìlín |
| हिन्दी | पड़ोसी paṛosī, पड़ोसिन paṛosin, हमसाया hamsāyā |
| Kiswahili | jirani, majirani |
| Português | vizinho, vizinha |
| Français | voisin, voisine |
| Deutsch | Nachbar, Nachbarin |
| Italiano | vicino, vicina |
| Ελληνικά | γείτονας geítonas, γειτόνισσα geitónissa |
| Română | vecin, vecină |
| Русский | сосе́д soséd, сосе́дка sosédka |
| Tiếng Việt | láng giềng, hàng xóm |
| العربية | جَار jār, جَارة jāra |
| עברית | שָׁכֵן shakhén, שְׁכֵנָה |
noun fellow human
| Español | prójimo, prójima |
|---|---|
| हिन्दी | पड़ोसी paṛosī |
| Kiswahili | jirani |
| Português | próximo, próxima |
| Français | prochain, prochaine |
| Deutsch | Nächster, Nächste, Mitmensch |
| Italiano | prossimo |
| Русский | бли́жний blížnij |
| עברית | רֵעַ réa' |
verb to be adjacent to
| 日本語 | 隣り合う tonariau |
|---|---|
| Kiswahili | majirani |
| Português | vizinhar com |
| Deutsch | benachbart sein |
| Ελληνικά | γειτονεύω geitonévo |
| Русский | соседствовать sosedstvovatʹ, прилега́ть prilegátʹ, грани́чить graníčitʹ |
Talk about this word "neighbour." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/neighbour. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. neighbour. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/neighbour "neighbour." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/neighbour.Cite this
@misc{neighbour_2026,
title = {neighbour},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/neighbour},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
