I. əˈpräksəmə̇t, usu -ə̇d.+V adjective
Etymology: Late Latin approximatus, past participle of approximare to come near, from Latin ad- + proximare to come near — more at proximate
1. : nearly resembling
doing such approximate justice as we could — W.A.White
2. : near to correctness or accuracy : nearly exact
a sketch map with approximate topography — C.B.Hitchcock
an approximate idea of the agricultural area — J.M.Mogey
at the approximate center of the state
3. : located very close together
leaves that are ovate and approximate
II. -ˌmāt, usu -ād.+V verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
transitive verb
1.
a. : to bring near or close to : cause to approach : make approximate
the closer the performing conditions for Sebastian Bach's concerted music are approximated to those of early eighteenth century provincial Germany — Virgil Thomson
b. medicine : to bring together (cut edges of tissue)
2. : to come near to : approach
the candidate's memory should closely approximate a hypothetical norm — H.G.Armstrong
nothing approximating a history of American letters was printed — H.M.Jones
3. : to set by hasty and crude calculation : estimate
maybe the map is just approximated when it comes to precise distances — A.R.Marcus
intransitive verb
: to come close
to make the effects of poetry approximate to those of music — Edmund Wilson