approximate
verb/əˈprɒksɪmeɪt/
/əˈprɑːksɪmeɪt/
(formal)Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they approximate | /əˈprɒksɪmeɪt/ /əˈprɑːksɪmeɪt/ |
| he / she / it approximates | /əˈprɒksɪmeɪts/ /əˈprɑːksɪmeɪts/ |
| past simple approximated | /əˈprɒksɪmeɪtɪd/ /əˈprɑːksɪmeɪtɪd/ |
| past participle approximated | /əˈprɒksɪmeɪtɪd/ /əˈprɑːksɪmeɪtɪd/ |
| -ing form approximating | /əˈprɒksɪmeɪtɪŋ/ /əˈprɑːksɪmeɪtɪŋ/ |
- [transitive, intransitive] to be similar or close to something in nature, quality, amount, etc., but not exactly the same
- approximate something The animals were reared in conditions which approximated the wild as closely as possible.
- The total cost will approximate £15 billion.
- approximate to something His story approximates to the facts that we already know.
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- [transitive] approximate something to calculate or estimate something fairly accurately
- a formula for approximating the weight of a horse
More Like This Pronunciation changes by part of speechPronunciation changes by part of speech
Word Originlate Middle English (in the adjectival sense ‘close, similar’): from late Latin approximatus, past participle of approximare, from ad- ‘to’ + proximus ‘very near’. The verb (originally meaning ‘bring close’) arose in the mid 17th cent.; the current use as an adjective dates from the early 19th cent.
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approximate