nigh adj

1 being on the left side; "the near or nigh horse is the one on the left"; "the animal's left side is its near or nigh side" [syn: near(a), nigh(a)]

2 near in space or time adv

1 near in time or place or relationship; "as the wedding day drew near"; "stood near the door"; "don't shoot until they come near"; "getting near to the true explanation"; "her mother is always near"; "The end draws nigh"; "the bullet didn't come close"; "don't get too close to the fire" [syn: near, close]

2 (of actions or states) slightly short of or not quite accomplished; `near' is sometimes used informally for `nearly' and `most' is sometimes used informally for `almost'; "the job is (just) about done"; "the baby was almost asleep when the alarm sounded"; "we're almost finished"; "the car all but ran her down"; "he nearly fainted"; "talked for nigh onto 2 hours"; "the recording is well-nigh perfect"; "virtually all the parties signed the contract"; "I was near exhausted by the run"; "most everyone agrees" [syn: about, just about, almost, most, all but, nearly, near, virtually, well-nigh]

English

Pronunciation

• /naɪ/
• Rhymes with: -aɪ

Etymology

nēah, nēh

Adjective

1. In the context of "archaic|poetic": near, close by

Usage notes

Nigh is an older form of near. Near was originally the comparative form of nigh; the superlative form was next. Nigh is used today mostly in archaic, poetic, or regional contexts.

Synonyms

• close
• close by
• close to
• near

Derived terms

• well-nigh
• nigh-well

Related terms

• near
• next
• neighbor

Translations

• Dutch: dichtbij, nabij, naderbij
• Finnish: lähellä
• German: nahe, nah bei
• Serbian: blizu
• Spanish: cerca de

• ttbc Portuguese: perto, próximo, quase

Irish

Pronunciation

lang=ga|[nʲiː] or

Verb

1. to wash

Conjugation

Scottish Gaelic

Verb

nigh

1. to wash, bathe

Participles

about, all but, almost, along toward, approach, approaching, approximate, approximating, arm-in-arm, around, as good as, aside, at close quarters, at hand, at next hand, beside, bordering on, burning, by, cheek-by-jowl, circa, close, close about, close at hand, close by, close to, close upon, closely, come near, converge, counterclockwise, draw near, draw nigh, fast by, hand-in-hand, hard, hard by, hard on, hereabout, hereabouts, hot, immediate, in spitting distance, intimate, just about, larboard, left, left-hand, left-wing, left-wingish, levorotatory, liberal, near, near at hand, near the mark, near to, near upon, nearabout, nearabouts, nearby, nearing, nearish, nearly, next door to, nigh about, nighhand, nighish, not far, not far from, not quite, only a step, port, pretty near, propinque, proximal, proximate, radical, round, side-by-side, sinister, sinistral, sinistrocerebral, sinistrocular, sinistrogyrate, sinistrorse, thereabout, thereabouts, verging on, verging upon, vicinal, warm, well-nigh, within call, within earshot, within hearing, within reach