neighbor

especially British, neigh·bour

[ney-ber]

noun

1. a person who lives near another.

   My next door neighbor has an orange cat.

2. a person or thing that is near another.

3. one's fellow human being.

   You must be generous toward your less fortunate neighbors.

4. a person who shows kindliness or helpfulness toward others.

   She's always a neighbor to people in distress.

5. (used as a term of address, especially as a friendly greeting to a stranger).

   Tell me, neighbor, which way to town?

adjective

1. situated or living near another.

   One of our neighbor nations is in need of aid.

verb (used with object)

1. to live or be situated near to; adjoin; border on.

   Germany neighbors Denmark.

2. to place or bring near.

verb (used without object)

1. to live or be situated nearby.

2. to associate with or as if with one's neighbors; be neighborly or friendly (often followed bywith ).

Other Word Forms

• neighborless adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of neighbor¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English neahgebūr, nēahbūr ( nēah nigh + (ge)būr “farmer”; Boer, boor ); akin to Dutch nabuur, German Nachbar, Old Norse nābūi

Example Sentences

Almost three terrifying hours later, the police found her, huddled on a neighbor’s porch.

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Reed said he thought it might have been an isolated prank — his next-door neighbors didn’t receive any such messages — until his sister showed him a neighborhood Facebook page.

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When I moved into my first apartment, I was so worried about making noise that I gave my downstairs neighbors my number to call if I was ever too loud.

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We find Louis Armstrong in a louder moment, his body and his trumpet framed by the long bell of a neighbor’s clarinet, his head thrown back in rollicking laughter.

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Because they liked fireworks, she served baked Alaska topped with sparklers for dessert and surprised them with a fireworks show that annoyed the neighbors but delighted her guests.

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Related Words

• acquaintance 
• friend 

When To Use

Spelling tips for neighbor

The word neighbor is hard to spell because it is spelled differently from the way it is pronounced [ ney-ber ]. To make it even more confusing, neighbor is the American English spelling of the word. In British English, it is spelled with a u: neighbour. How to spell neighbor: The easiest way to remember how to spell neighbor is with the classic mnemonic device: I before E, except after C, except when it's EIGH [ ey ], as in neighbor or weigh.