DictionaryAI

neighbour

NAY-buh/ˈneɪbə/NAY-bur/ˈneɪbɚ/

Pluralneighbours

Verbneighbours, neighbouring, neighboured

US spellingneighbor

6 meanings of neighbour

Practice

  1. 1
    one nearbynouncountable
    A person who lives next door or nearby, or who is placed beside or near someone, and also anything near another thing of its kind.

    Our neighbours fed the cat while we were on holiday.

    On the train, my neighbour fell asleep on my shoulder.

    UsageOften next-door neighbour, or my neighbour for whoever sits beside you. American English writes neighbor.

    Note

    It reaches from the family next door to whoever happens to be beside you, as in Edith Wharton's The Custom of the Country (1913), where Undine's opera glass slips to the floor and "her neighbour bent down and picked it up".

  2. 2
    lie besideverbtransitive
    To lie next to or border on a place or thing.

    Our farm neighbours a large nature reserve.

    Residents of the streets that neighbour the airport complain about the noise.

    UsageNo preposition after it: one country neighbours another. Neighbouring is far more common: the neighbouring village.

    Similarborder, adjoin, abut

    Note

    In this sense one place sits beside another, sharing an edge or a border, as when George Sandys, describing his travels in 1615, writes of "the leisurely ascending hills that neighbour the shore". The participle neighbouring, as in neighbouring countries, is far more common than the bare verb.

  3. 3
    fellow humannouncountable
    In the Bible and religious teaching, any fellow human being.

    The sermon reminded us that a stranger in need is our neighbour too.

    Believers are called to forgive their neighbours as they hope to be forgiven.

    UsageOften in love your neighbour, or the older love thy neighbour.

    Note

    The command "thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself" comes from Leviticus, and in Luke's Gospel the parable of the Good Samaritan answers the question "who is my neighbour?": anyone in need, not only the person next door. Preachers and writers on ethics still use the word this way when they speak of duty to others, and the phrase love thy neighbour is quoted far beyond church walls.

    Checked 4 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • The quoted command occurs in Leviticus 19:18. en.wikisource.org
    • In Luke 10:25–37, Jesus tells the Good Samaritan parable in response to the question quoted. en.wikisource.org
    • The interpretation extends neighbour beyond geographical proximity to anyone needing help. vatican.va

Less common meanings

  1. 4
    be almost likeverbfigurativelyintransitive
    To come close to, or be almost the same as, something; followed by on.

    UsageWorks like border on or verge on, meaning to be almost something: neighbouring on cruelty.

    Similarverge

    Note

    It is a speaker's way of passing judgement: to say that talk is neighbouring on treason means it has nearly crossed the line. Today most writers say bordering on or verging on instead.

  2. 5
    nounarchaic
    Someone close to another in sympathy or trusted with their confidences.
    Buckingham / No more shall be the neighbour to my counsel.
    c. 1593, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third:”
  3. 6
    verbarchaic
    To keep close company with someone, or to be close to them.

Practice

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Origin

From Middle English neighebor, neighbour, from Old English nēahġebūr, from Proto-Germanic *nēhwagabūrô, literally "near-dweller": nigh ("near") + bower ("farmer"). German Nachbar, Dutch nabuur and Danish nabo are related; it pushed out Middle English prome, borrowed from Old French proeme ("neighbour").

Checked 4 Nov 2026 · 8 facts

  • Neighebor and neighbour are Middle English forms ancestral to modern neighbour. en.wiktionary.org
  • The Middle English word descends from Old English nēahġebūr. en.wiktionary.org
  • The Old English word descends from reconstructed Proto-Germanic *nēhwagabūrô. en.wiktionary.org
  • The compound literally means near-dweller. en.wiktionary.org
  • The compound's elements correspond to nigh meaning near and bower meaning farmer. en.wiktionary.org
  • German Nachbar, Dutch nabuur and Danish nabo are related to English neighbour. en.wiktionary.org
  • Neighbour displaced Middle English prome. en.wiktionary.org
  • Middle English prome was borrowed from Old French proeme, meaning neighbour. en.wiktionary.org