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
Scott Tobias, Vulture, 12 Apr. 2026
None of his neighbors knew to whom the graves belonged, or where the families who had lived in their immediate vicinity might be.
—Nabih Bulos, Los Angeles Times, 12 Apr. 2026
With this mission, Koch has become the first woman to travel to the moon's vicinity, Glover is the first person of color to do so, and Hansen is the first non-American.
—Chelsea Gohd, Space.com, 10 Apr. 2026
Koch became the first woman, Glover the first Black man and Hansen the first Canadian to ever venture within the vicinity of the moon.
—Eric Lagatta, USA Today, 10 Apr. 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 13 Apr. 2026.
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vicinity
noun
