neighbor

Neighbor is defined as one who lives near someone or something, or refers to any fellow human being.

(noun)

  1. An example of a neighbor is the person next door.
  2. An example of a neighbor is someone who cooks food for a struggling friend.

The definition of neighbor is being near another.

(adjective)

An example of neighbor used as an adjective is neighbor state which means a bordering state.

Neighbor means to live by or be near.

(verb)

An example of to neighbor is for the border of New York to touch the border of New Jersey.

YourDictionary definition and usage example. Copyright © 2013 by LoveToKnow Corp.

See neighbor in Webster's New World College Dictionary

noun

  1. a person who lives near another
  2. a person, country, or thing situated near another
  3. a fellow human being: love thy neighbor
  4. any person: used as a term of direct address

Origin: ME neighbour < OE neahgebur (akin to Ger nachbar) < neah (see nigh) + gebur, freeholder, peasant < ge-, with + bur, farmer < buan, to live, cultivate, akin to ON bua: see bondage

adjective

nearby; adjacent

transitive verb

  1. to live or be situated near (someone or something)
  2. Rare to bring near or into close association with

intransitive verb

  1. to live or be situated nearby
  2. to have friendly relations; associate on friendly terms (with)
Brit. sp. neighbour

See neighbor in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun
  1. One who lives near or next to another.
  2. A person, place, or thing adjacent to or located near another.
  3. A fellow human.
  4. Used as a form of familiar address.
verb neigh·bored, neigh·bor·ing, neigh·bors
verb, transitive
To lie close to or border directly on.
verb, intransitive
To live or be situated close by.
adjective
Situated or living near another: a neighbor state.

Origin:

Origin: Middle English neighebor

Origin: , from Old English nēahgebūr

Origin: : nēah, near

Origin: + gebūr, dweller; see bheuə- in Indo-European roots

.

Word History: Loving one's neighbor as oneself would be much easier, or perhaps much more difficult, if the word neighbor had kept to its etymological meaning. The source of our word, the assumed West Germanic form *nāhgabūr, was a compound of the words *nēhwiz, “near,” and *būram, “dweller, especially a farmer.” A neighbor, then, was a near dweller. Nēahgebūr, the Old English descendant of this West Germanic word, and its descendant in Middle English, neighebor, and our Modern English neighbor have all retained the literal notion, even though one can now have many neighbors whom one does not know, a situation that would have been highly unlikely in earlier times. The extension of this word to mean “fellow” is probably attributable to the Christian concern with the treatment of one's fellow humans, as in the passage in Matthew 19:19 that urges love of one's neighbor.

Learn more about neighbor

neighbor

link/cite print suggestion box