closeness

From close +‎ -ness.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkləʊs.nəs/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈkloʊs.nəs/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈkləʉs.nəs/
• Rhymes: -əʊsnəs

closeness (usually uncountable, plural closenesses)

1. The state of being close (all senses)
2. The state of being friends
3. The state of being mean or stingy
4. The state of being secretive
5. (mathematics) The shortest path between two vertices in a graph
6. (archaic) Solitude, seclusion
   • 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:

     I thus neglecting worldly ends, all dedicated / To closeness and the bettering of my mind [...]

• (physical): proximity, nearness
• (friends): intimacy
• (stingy):
• (secretive):