approximate

• approx. (abbreviation, also for adverb approximately)

From Latin approximatus, past participle of approximare (“to approach”); ad + proximare (“to come near”). See proximate.

Adjective

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ə.ˈpɹɒk.sɪ.mət/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ə.ˈpɹɑk.sə.mət/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Verb

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ə.ˈpɹɒk.sɪ.meɪt/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ə.ˈpɹɑk.sə.meɪt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

approximate (comparative more approximate, superlative most approximate)

1. Approaching; proximate; nearly resembling.
2. Nearing correctness; nearly exact; not perfectly accurate.

   approximate results or values

   NASA's Genesis spacecraft has on board an ion monitor to record the speed, density, temperature and approximate composition of the solar wind ions.

• close

• exact, precise

approximate (third-person singular simple present approximates, present participle approximating, simple past and past participle approximated)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To estimate.

   I approximated the value of pi by taking 22 divided by 7.

2. (transitive) To come near to; to approach.
   • J. Morse

     The telescope approximates perfection.

3. (transitive) To carry or advance near; to cause to approach.
   • Burke

     to approximate the inequality of riches to the level of nature

When you follow two separate chains of thought, Watson, you will find some point of intersection which should approximate to the truth.
— Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax

approximāte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of approximō