Etymology

approximate

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Today it means: Approaching; proximate; nearly resembling. Full definition →

Middle English approximat ← Latin approximātus ← Proto-Indo-European *prokʷism̥mos
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approximate · adjective, noun1

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂éd
  2. Proto-Italic*ad
  3. Proto-Italic*ad-
  4. Latinad-
  5. Proto-Indo-European*prokʷe
  6. Proto-Indo-European*prokʷism̥mos
  7. Latinproximus
  8. Latinproximō
  9. Latinapproximō
  10. Latinapproximātus
  11. Middle Englishapproximat
  12. English todayapproximate

From Middle English approximat(e) (“close, near (to); similar; intimate”, also used as the past participle of approximaten), from Latin approximātus, the perfect passive participle of approximō (see -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), further from ad- (“to, towards, at”) + proximō (“to come near”). The noun was derived from the adjective through substantivization, see -ate (noun-forming suffix). See also proximate. By surface analysis, ap- + proximate.

approximate · verb2

  1. Latin · derived fromapproximātus
  2. Middle English · inherited fromapproximaten“to bring, put close (to)”
  3. English todayapproximate

From Middle English approximaten (“to bring, put close (to)”), from approximat(e) (“close, near (to); similar; intimate”, also used as the past participle of approximaten) + -en (verb-forming suffix), borrowed from Latin approximātus, see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and Etymology 1 for more.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.