English

next

/nɛkst/
Nearest in place or position, having nothing similar intervening; adjoining.

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    Origin

    From Middle English nexte, nexste, nixte, from Old English nīehsta, nīehste, etc., inflected forms of nīehst (“nearest, next”), superlative form of nēah (“nigh”) (the comparative would become near), corresponding to Proto-Germanic *nēhwist (“nearest, closest”); equivalent to nigh + -est.

    Cognate with Saterland Frisian naist (“next”), Dutch naast (“next to”), German nächster (“next”), Yiddish נעקסט (nekst, “next”), Danish næste (“next”), Elfdalian nest (“by, near”), Icelandic næst (“next”), Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk neste (“next”), Swedish näst, nästa (“next”), Persian نزد (nazd, “near, with”).

    Compare typologically Latin proximus (“nearest, next”).

    From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

    Lineage

    • inheritedMiddle Englishnexte
      • inheritedOld Englishnīehsta
        • inheritedProto-Germanic*nēhwist “nearest, closest”
    • surface analysisEnglishnigh “Near, close by.”
    • suffixEnglish-est “Used to form the superlative of adjectives and adverbs.”
      • inheritedMiddle English-est
        • inheritedOld English-est
        • inheritedOld English-ast

    Related: Saterland Frisian naist, Dutch naast, German nächster, Yiddish נעקסט, Danish næste, Elfdalian nest, Icelandic næst, nb,nn neste, Swedish näst, Persian نزد

    Sources