pribliavanje

Pribliavanje is a noun used in several South Slavic languages, notably Croatian, Serbian, and Bosnian. It denotes the act or process of bringing something closer, whether in physical space or in a figurative sense, and by extension the act of approximation or estimation. The word is formed from the verb približiti (to bring near) or približavati (to bring near repeatedly). The root bliž- means near, and the prefix pri- conveys direction toward.

In everyday use, prilblijavanje describes both concrete approaches—when objects, people, or boundaries move closer—and more abstract forms of closeness, such as converging opinions, plans, or trends. In scientific and technical contexts, the term is common for approximation: obtaining a value that is close to the exact one, often through iterative methods, estimation, or model simplification. It appears in mathematics, statistics, engineering, and computing to indicate that a result is intentionally approximate rather than exact.

Orthography varies by language. The standard form in Croatian, Serbian, and Bosnian writing is približavanje (with the diacritic ž). In texts that omit diacritics, it may appear as priblizavanje. The concept is widely understood across the languages and is closely related to terms such as approximation, nearing, and convergence.

See also: approximation, approach, convergence.