neighbor

neighbor — noun

1. The way people in the United States write the word that in British English is sp

1.nounA2
Definition

The way people in the United States write the word that in British English is spelled neighbour. The two spellings share the same meaning.

Example

My American friend wrote 'neighbor' without the letter u.

American spelling vs British neighbour

The sixth-grade English textbook in Hassan's school uses the American spelling 'neighbor' throughout.

Grammar Patterns

someone's neighbor

Usage Note

The British spelling 'neighbour' (with a 'u' before the 'r') is standard in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. The American spelling 'neighbor' is used in the United States and increasingly in international digital contexts.

2. Someone whose home is next to or very close to your home — for instance, the per

2.nounA2
Definition

Someone whose home is next to or very close to your home — for instance, the person in the apartment across the hall or the family two houses down the street.

Example

Henrik borrowed a ladder from his neighbor across the street.

borrowed + from + neighbor

Adina and her neighbor Nellie water each other's plants during holidays.

reciprocal: each other's

Common collocations
  • next-door neighbor
  • neighbor's dog
  • neighbor's house
  • good neighbor
  • friendly neighbor
  • neighbor next door
Synonyms
  • next-door neighbor

    specifically the person in the house or apartment immediately beside yours

  • resident

    broader — someone who lives in an area but not necessarily nearby; more formal

Antonyms
  • stranger

    someone you do not know, in contrast with a neighbor you have met

Grammar Patterns

someone's neighbor

the neighbor + relative clause

Usage Note

This is the most common meaning of neighbor. The word is typically used with a possessive (my/our/his/her neighbor) or an article + adjective (a friendly neighbor).

Common Mistakes

I live next to my neighborhood.
I live next to my neighbor.
'neighborhood' is the area; 'neighbor' is the person.

3. A country that shares a border with another country, or is located very close to

3.nounB1
Definition

A country that shares a border with another country, or is located very close to it across a short stretch of water.

Example

Canada is the northern neighbor of the United States.

article + adjective + neighbor + of [country]

Iceland's closest neighbor across the Denmark Strait lies over three hundred kilometers away.

Common collocations
  • northern neighbor
  • southern neighbor
  • eastern neighbor
  • western neighbor
  • nearest neighbor
  • larger neighbor
  • smaller neighbor
Synonyms
  • neighboring country

    the more common adjectival phrase; 'neighbor' alone is shorter and less formal

  • border country

    less common; refers specifically to countries sharing a land border

Grammar Patterns

a country's neighbor

a neighbor of + country name

Usage Note

When used for countries, neighbor is often preceded by a direction word such as northern, southern, eastern, or western (Canada is the northern neighbor of the US).

neighbor — adjective

neighbor — verb

Word family

  • neighborhood
    nounA2
  • neighborly
    adjectiveB1
  • neighboring
    adjectiveB2
  • neighborliness
    nounC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/2

Neighbor is the most specific word for someone who lives close enough to interact with — typically the people next door or on your street. A next-door neighbor narrows this further to the person in the immediately adjacent home. Resident is a broader, more formal term for anyone who lives in a particular area (apartment building, neighborhood, city), but it does not imply closeness or personal contact. Local is the most informal and refers to people who live in a general area (a local shop, the locals in a village) without specifying proximity to the speaker. For example: 'I asked my neighbor to collect my mail' (specific person nearby), 'The residents of the building voted on new rules' (all occupants), and 'The locals know the best hiking trails' (people from the area, not necessarily neighbors).

neighbor ↗next-door neighborresident ↗local ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • neighbor country
  • neighbor state
  • neighbor town

Phrases

  • next-door neighbor
  • good neighbor
  • friendly neighbor
  • neighbor next door
  • someone's northern / southern / eastern / western neighbor

Prepositions

  • neighbor of
  • neighbor to
  • neighbor with

Etymology

Old EnglishProto-GermanicEnglish

The word neighbor comes from Old English nēahġebūr, which combines nēah (meaning 'near,' which later became 'nigh') and ġebūr (a dweller or farmer, related to the modern word 'boor'). So a neighbor was literally a 'near-dweller.' The same two building blocks appear in the modern German word Nachbar (nach- 'near' + -bar 'dweller'). The American spelling drops the 'u' that the British version keeps — a spelling difference introduced by Noah Webster in the early 1800s to make written English more phonetic.