Standard Lemma guide

proximal

adj · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /ˈpɹɒksɪməl/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: P R AA1 K S AH0 M AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Closer to the point of attachment or observation.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: anatomy, geography, geology, medicine, natural-sciences, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: distal

2

adj

Meaning 2

Facing toward another tooth. The proximal surfaces of a tooth are those that touch or are close to neighboring teeth.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: dentistry, medicine, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adj

Meaning 3

Closer to the speaker.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: human-sciences, linguistics, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

adjective

Meaning 4

situated nearest to point of attachment or origin

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • the proximal end of a bone

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: distal

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *prokwe Proto-Indo-European *prokwism̥mos Latin proximus English -al English proximal From Latin proximus, superlative form of prope (“near, nigh”).

Across languages

Translations

17 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: proximal — closer to the point of attachment
  • Chinese Mandarin: 鄰近的 /邻近的 (línjìn de) — closer to the point of attachment
  • Czech: proximální — closer to the point of attachment
  • Finnish: läheinen — closer to the point of attachment
  • Finnish: proksimaalinen — closer to the point of attachment
  • German: proximal — closer to the point of attachment
  • Greek: εγγύς (engýs) — closer to the point of attachment
  • Irish: neasach — closer to the point of attachment
  • Italian: prossimale — closer to the point of attachment
  • Northern Kurdish: nêzîkî — closer to the point of attachment
  • Occitan: proximal — closer to the point of attachment
  • Polish: proksymalny — closer to the point of attachment
  • Portuguese: proximal — closer to the point of attachment
  • Romanian: proximal — closer to the point of attachment
  • Russian: проксимальный (proksimalʹnyj) — closer to the point of attachment
  • Spanish: proximal — closer to the point of attachment
  • Swedish: proximal — closer to the point of attachment