vicinity
noun
Did you know?
Howdy, neighbor! Today we cozy up to vicinity, a word with neighborly origins that was welcomed into English as a French import in the 16th century from Middle French vicinité. It comes ultimately from Latin vicus, meaning "row of houses" or "village," by way of Latin vicinus, meaning "neighboring." Other descendants of vicinus in English include vicinal (a synonym of local) and vicinage, a synonym of vicinity in the sense of "a neighboring or surrounding district." Both of these are formal and rare, but vicinage is notable for giving title to the Vicinage Clause, a segment of the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution that entitles an accused person to "an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law."
Examples of vicinity in a Sentence
Phil Plait, Scientific American, 8 May 2026
Also in that general vicinity stood DisneyQuest, an interactive arcade of sorts, but that building was demolished after the attraction’s closure in 2017.
—Dewayne Bevil, The Orlando Sentinel, 8 May 2026
The complaint alleged that Moncur’s injuries were greater because volunteers were told to handle dogs and complete tasks alone without prior training; and because of limited staffing no one was in the nearby vicinity who could respond to an emergency.
—Los Angeles Times, 7 May 2026
State prosecutors have identified 29 victims, 13 of whom attended the attack and others being in the vicinity.
—Kory Grow, Rolling Stone, 7 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for vicinity
Cite this Entry
“Vicinity.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vicinity. Accessed 12 May. 2026.
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vicinity
noun
