vicinity

American  

[vi-sin-i-tee] / vɪˈsɪn ɪ ti /

noun

• vicinities
  plural

1. the area or region near or about a place; surrounding district; neighborhood.

   There are no stores in the vicinity of our house.

2. state or fact of being near; proximity; propinquity.

   He was troubled by the vicinity of the nuclear testing area.

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vicinity British  

/ vɪˈsɪnɪtɪ /

noun

1. a surrounding, adjacent, or nearby area; neighbourhood

2. the fact or condition of being close in space or relationship

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• vicinities
  plural

Etymology

Origin of vicinity

1550–60; < Latin vīcīnitās, equivalent to vīcīn ( us ) near ( vīc ( us ) wick ³, neighborhood + -īnus -ine ¹ ) + -itās -ity

Explanation

If something is in your vicinity, it's in the surrounding area or nearby region — it's in the neighborhood, so to speak. If there's a garbage dump in your vicinity, you'll certainly smell it. The noun vicinity evolved from the Latin vicinitas, which means “of or pertaining to neighbors or a neighborhood.” Not until 1796 did the word expand in meaning to also describe a “surrounding district.” Said American author Washington Irving, “A kind heart is a fountain of gladness, making everything in its vicinity freshen into smiles.” Slang for vicinity include neck of the woods and turf.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

vicinity vicinities

Peaking at over 4,000 metres, the Weissmies mountain - which the two men went missing in the vicinity of - is a popular mountaineering spot in the Saas Valley.

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026

Ukraine's air force had warned of Russian "Kalibr" missiles in the vicinity of the village of Kagarlyk within the Kyiv region, heading towards the capital.

From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026

For two, whatever $2 tickets you might find in Anaheim put you in the vicinity of the top of a foul pole.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026

At the time of the explosion, there were approximately 300 people in the vicinity of baggage claim, but there was no evidence to suggest any had been a target.

From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2026

Thus one could imagine that one could create or find a wormhole that would lead from the vicinity of the Solar System to Alpha Centauri.

From "A Brief History of Time: And Other Essays" by Stephen Hawking

The team also prepared training sessions and webinars available to schools to help them identify potential hazards in their vicinities and structural weaknesses in their buildings.

From Washington Post ● Aug. 31, 2021

The answer was that all of Lion Air’s accidents happened during takeoffs and landings and therefore at relatively low speed, either on runways or in their immediate obstacle-free vicinities.

From New York Times ● Sep. 18, 2019

The community is virtually invisible, with most people working in meat-producing factories in the vicinities while those in town keep an extremely low profile.

From The Guardian ● Oct. 7, 2018

Dr Schlegel may thus have found a mechanism by which black holes can switch off star formation in their vicinities.

From Economist ● Jan. 7, 2016

Palms and tamarind grow in the vicinities of Moscow; Palestine and Macedonia are covered with prairies like Norway and Switzerland, and whales appear in the Mediterranean.

From The Legacy of Ignorantism by T. H. (Trinidad Hermenegildo) Pardo de Tavera

Related Words

• environs
• neighborhood
• proximity