Near East

[ neer eest ]

noun

1. an indefinite geographical or regional term, usually referring to the countries of southwestern Asia, including Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia and the other nations of Arabia. Compare Middle East ( def 1 ).

Near East

noun

1. See Middle East
   another term for the Middle East
2. (formerly) the Balkan States and the area of the Ottoman Empire

Near East

1. A region in western Asia and northeastern Africa , often considered the same as the Middle East .

Other Words From

• Near Eastern adjective noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of Near East¹

First recorded in 1855–60

Example Sentences

The god with horns—half human, half beast—is commonplace throughout the ancient Near East.

From The Daily Beast

Agate was widely used to carve high-value objects like signets and cylinder seals in the ancient Near East.

From The Daily Beast

“They overplayed their hand,” said Middle East scholar David Makovsky of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

From The Daily Beast

“The Muslim Brotherhood is steeling for a fight,” says Trager, of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

From The Daily Beast

“I am the Counselor at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy,” Ross said in an email on Friday.

From The Daily Beast

The former were bound on a short journey to the near east and were to support us until we parted company.

From Project Gutenberg

In the Near East, coffee manners and customs are much the same today as they were fifty or even one hundred years ago.

From Project Gutenberg

Coffee is the most popular and most extensively used non-alcoholic beverage in Greece, as it is throughout the Near East.

From Project Gutenberg

The concept of the dying god, so widespread in the ancient Near East, is found nowhere else in Indian mythology.'

From Project Gutenberg

In 1846 Barrot made a tour in the Near East, returning in time to take part a second time in the preliminaries of revolution.

From Project Gutenberg