What does appropinquate mean?
Appropinquate is a rare, now largely archaic English verb meaning to approach or draw near to something. Borrowed from Latin, it belongs to the family of formal, latinate verbs that English absorbed in its early modern period, alongside words like 'propinquity,' which shares the same root and means nearness or closeness. In use, appropinquate functions much like 'approach' or 'draw near': one might say that evening appropinquated, or that a traveler appropinquated the city walls. Because ordinary verbs such as 'approach' and 'near' long ago took over this territory, encountering appropinquate today signals either historical text or a writer reaching deliberately for an elevated, scholarly register. It survives chiefly in older dictionaries and antiquarian prose, making it a curiosity of the language rather than a working vocabulary word — though for that very reason it can lend a sentence a distinctive, learned charm.
verbTo approach or draw near to something or someone; to come close.
- To approach or draw near to a person, place, or thing.
"As the storm clouds appropinquated, the sailors hurried to secure the sails."
"The messenger appropinquated the castle gates as dusk fell."
"With each step she appropinquated the summit, the air growing thinner around her."
English once had its own formal verb for 'getting closer' — appropinquate — borrowed straight from Latin, before 'approach' made it obsolete.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of appropinquate
Appropinquate derives from Latin appropinquare, meaning to come near, formed from ad- ('toward') plus propinquus ('near'), the same root that gives English 'propinquity.' The word entered English in the early modern period, when writers freely adapted Latin verbs directly into scholarly prose. Over time, simpler native and French-derived alternatives such as 'approach' displaced it, leaving appropinquate as a rarely encountered relic of that latinate borrowing era.
Related word forms
How appropinquate is actually used
Extremely rare and archaic; found mainly in older or deliberately ornate writing. Using it today carries a playful or scholarly, latinate flavor rather than everyday neutrality.
Easily confused with appropinquate
"Appropriate" means suitable or to take for oneself, while "appropinquate" means simply to approach or draw near.