Neighbour

A neighbour is a person who lives near another person or who shares a local community, such as someone on the same street or in the same building. The term can also be used more broadly to describe people in one’s environment with whom one has ordinary social relations or mutual regard. In American English the spelling is neighbor; in British and many Commonwealth varieties it is neighbour.

Etymology and variations: The word comes from Old English neahgebur, from neah meaning near and gebur meaning dweller. Middle English forms included neighebor. The noun has given rise to related terms such as neighbourhood, neighborliness, and the adjective neighborly.

Social and cultural usage: Neighbours often contribute to social cohesion through everyday interaction, mutual aid, and shared norms. The idea of neighbourliness appears in civic initiatives such as neighbourhood watches and community organizations, and it has legal resonances in matters like nuisance and property boundaries. The concept extends beyond households to describe relationships between neighboring communities or countries, as in phrases related to good-neighbour policies or neighboring states.

See also: Neighbor, neighbouring, neighbourhood, neighborly. In everyday language, the notion of a neighbour emphasizes proximity, interpersonal rapport, and the social fabric of a locality.