approximation

[In Ger. & Fr. ap proximation; Sp. apr oxim a cion; Port. approx i mação; Ital. appros sim azione; from Lat. ap proximo.] [APPROXIMATE, V. ] A. Ordinary Language: 1. The act of approaching; approach, drawing near in any way. "Unto the latitude of Capricorn, or the winter solstice, it had been a spring; for unto that position it had been in a middle point, and that of ascent or approximation." - Browne: Vulgar Errours. 2. The state of being near; nearne , proximity. our acce to such temptation, whose very approximation is dangerous." -Jeremy Taylor: Ezposition of the Lord's Prayer. "In the principal events there is an approximation to an agreement."- Lewis : Early Rom. Hist ., ch. xii., pt. i., § 14. B. Technically : I. Geometry, Algebra , Arithmetic, .: 1. Implying motion towards: A continued approaching nearer and nearer to a quantity or magnitude, which cannot be determined with absolute precision. 2. Implying rest: A quantity or magnitude presenting as near an approach as is practicable to the unattainable one. (See 1.) II. Biol .: An approach in structure, indicating affinity. "This approximation , also, is more especially marked in the larger development of the innermost of the five digits of the foot in the chimpanzee."-Owen: Cla if. of the Mammal i a , p. 67. III. Med . Communication of a disease by contact. Spec ., an obsolete method of attempted cure of a disease by transferring it by contact to an animal. ( Parr .) IV. Surgery : The bringing of a fractured portion of the skull into immediate and dangerous proximity to the dura mater. ( Parr .) ap-prox-i-ma-tive, a. [Eng. approximate ; -ive . In Ger. approximativ Fr. approx i mat if .] Approaching, containing an approach. "This statement is, of course, only approximative and subject to modification in detail." -Times, March 21, 1874. ap-prox-i-ma-tive-ly, adv . [Eng. appres imative; -ly.]) Approximately. ap-prox-i-ma-tive-ne , s. [Eng. approximative; -ne .] The quality of being approximative. (George Eliot , in N.E.D. )