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next

NEKST/nɛkst/

9 meanings of next

Practice

  1. 1
    future timedeterminer
    Closest in the future, or the one after the closest if that one is very soon; for days of the week, sometimes meaning the instance about a week away.

    We're planning a trip to the coast next summer.

    The committee will vote on the proposal at next week's meeting.

    UsageUsually omit the and time prepositions such as in, on, and at: next week, see you next Tuesday.

    Oppositelast

    Note

    With days of the week, the meaning splits between speakers. For some, next Tuesday is simply the coming Tuesday. For others it skips the one just ahead and means the Tuesday about a week away, eight days off if today is Monday.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

  2. 2
    upcoming onedeterminer
    Coming immediately after the current one or the most recent one.

    We missed the ferry and had to wait two hours for the next one.

    Our next stop is the central station.

    UsageUsually with the or a possessive: the next train, our next stop.

    Oppositelast

  3. 3
    following (order)adjective
    Coming immediately after another in an order, series, or ranking, or occasionally just before it.

    The next runner in the relay dropped the baton.

    Her name was next on the list, so she stood up.

    Similarfollowing, subsequent, succeeding

    Oppositeprevious, preceding, prior

    Note

    Order rather than space: the nearest step in a sequence, whether a page, a chapter or a successor, as in the next Bill Gates. In dates it can follow its noun: Wednesday next, the Sunday next before Easter. It can also point backward when paired with preceding, as in the next preceding clause, so careful writing spells out the direction when it matters.

  4. 4
    after thatadverb
    Immediately afterwards in time, place, rank, or order; on the first occasion after the present one.

    Whose name appears next on the roster?

    After the soup course, the fish was served next.

    UsageOften before a superlative: the next best thing, the next oldest child; also alone after a verb: what comes next.

    Note

    The adverb that ranks things one step down, most often placed before a superlative: the next best thing, the next closest house. In that position it means "second only to the first," so the next best thing to ice cream is whatever comes just behind it.

  5. 5
    nearest placeadjective
    Nearest in place or position, with nothing similar in between; adjoining.

    Voices carried clearly from the next office.

    The bakery sits in the next building over.

    Similaradjoining, adjacent, neighboring, nearest

    Note

    The spatial sense nearest the word's root. Old English nīehst was the superlative of nēah, "nigh," so it first meant simply "nearest," while the comparative of the same word became near. Nearest here means nothing of the same kind in between, not physically close: the next village can be a mile or two off.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

  6. 6
    the one followingnoununcountable
    The person or thing that comes immediately after the present one, such as the next match or episode.

    She read one letter, then set it aside and opened the next.

    Each chapter is shorter than the next.

    UsageCommon frames: from one day to the next, and Next, please! at a counter.

Less common meanings

  1. 7
    besideprepositionarchaic
    Immediately beside or nearest to something; at its side.
    All persons, in walking the streets, whose right sides are next the wall, are intitled to take the wall.
    1822, The Pamphleteer
    Photographs indicate that the southern terminals of the ditch system next the west gate may be in echelon, whilst those marginal to the east gate may be slightly inturned.
    1986, University of Wales Board of Celtic Studies, Bwletin Y Bwrdd Gwybodau Celtaidd - Volume 33
    Note

    A preposition without its usual to: next the wall, next the west gate. It now reads as old or poetic, but it held on in plain prose for a long time. The Pamphleteer of 1822 has walkers "whose right sides are next the wall." The University of Wales Board of Celtic Studies bulletin of 1986 places ditches "next the west gate."

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • The Pamphleteer contains the quoted description of pedestrians in 1822. en.wiktionary.org
    • The University of Wales Board of Celtic Studies bulletin contains the quoted phrase describing a ditch system in its 1986 volume 33, page 413. en.wiktionary.org
  2. 8
    familyadjective
    Nearest in family relationship.

    The court had to identify her next of kin.

    His next of kin were notified after the accident.

    UsageAlmost always in next of kin, which takes a singular or plural verb: his next of kin were told.

    Similarnearest, closest

    Note

    Kinship measured as distance. The law uses it to name whoever stands closest by blood, chiefly in next of kin, but also in next cousin, next nephew and next kin. In Coke's On Littleton (1628), the next cousin collateral of the whole blood may inherit "how farre so ever he be from him in degree." Next means closest in rank of claim, however remote the relation is in fact.

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 6 facts

  3. 9
    adjectiveobsolete
    Separated by the least distance or time, or providing the most direct or shortest route.
    The road to resolution, lies by doubt: "The next way home's the farthest way about."
    1777, Francis Quarles, Emblems Divine and Moral: Together with Hieroglyphics of the Life of Man
    Note

    Here the old superlative meaning "nearest" applies to routes and intervals, so the next way is the shortest way, not the following one. Shakespeare's All's Well, that Ends Well has a clown who calls himself a prophet and speaks "the truth the next way." Francis Quarles builds a paradox on it: "The next way home's the farthest way about." In such passages, read it as "nearest," rather than "following."

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

Practice

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Origin

From Middle English nexte, from Old English nīehsta, an inflected form of nīehst ("nearest, next"), the superlative of nēah ("nigh"): essentially "nigh" plus "-est." It goes back to Proto-Germanic *nēhwist ("nearest, closest") and is related to Dutch naast, German nächster, Danish næste, and Swedish nästa.

Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 6 facts

  • Next derives from Middle English nexte and Old English nīehsta, an inflected form of nīehst. en.wiktionary.org
  • Old English nīehst means nearest or next and is the superlative of nēah. en.wiktionary.org
  • Old English nēah is the ancestor of nigh. en.wiktionary.org
  • The formation is equivalent to nigh plus -est. en.wiktionary.org
  • The word goes back to reconstructed Proto-Germanic *nēhwist, meaning nearest or closest. en.wiktionary.org
  • Next is related to Dutch naast, German nächster, Danish næste, and Swedish nästa through their shared Proto-Germanic ancestor. en.wiktionary.org