next
/nɛkst/ adjective, determiner, adverb, preposition, noun
Forms NEXTs neest neist nex nex'
- adjective Nearest in place or position, having nothing similar intervening; adjoining. “The man in the next bunk kept me awake all night with his snoring.”
- adjective (obsolete) Most direct, or shortest or nearest in distance or time.
- adjective Nearest in order, succession, or rank; immediately following (or sometimes preceding) in order. “Please turn to the next page.”
- adjective (chiefly law) Nearest in relationship. (See also next of kin.)
- determiner Denotes the one immediately following the current or most recent one. “Next week would be a good time to meet.”
- determiner (of days of the week or months of the year) Closest in the future, or closest but one if the closest is very soon; of days, sometimes thought to specifically refer to the instance closest to seven days (one week) in the future. “The party is next Tuesday; that is, not tomorrow, but eight days from now.”
- adverb In a time, place, rank or sequence closest or following. “They live in the next closest house.”
- adverb (conjunctive) So as to follow in time or sequence something previously mentioned.
- adverb On the first subsequent occasion. “Financial panic, earthquakes, oil spills, riots. What comes next?”
- preposition (obsolete or poetic) On the side of; nearest or adjacent to; next to.
- noun The one that follows after this one. “Next, please, don't hold up the queue!”
- noun (gaming) Next match
Synonyms
subsequent following adjacent side by side future succeeding
Antonyms
Etymology
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”).
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Nearest in place; having no similar object intervening. Chaucer.
- adjective Nearest in time; as, the next day or hour.
- adverb In the time, place, or order nearest or immediately suceeding; as, this man follows next.
Etymology [AS. n, niéhst, n, superl. of neáh nigh. See Nigh.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “next”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details