approach

Etymology 1

From Middle English aprochen, borrowed from Old French aprochier (modern French approcher), from Late Latin appropiāre, a verb based on Latin prope (“near”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pro- (a variant of *per- (“before, in front; first”)) + *-kʷe (“suffix forming distributives from interrogatives”)).

verb

1. (intransitive) To come or go near, in place or time; to move toward; to advance nearer; to draw nigh.
   The descent continues, still more steeply to Dundee (Tay Bridge), and approaching from the bridge itself this sharp descent gives the curious appearance that the station is below the level of the firth. 1947 January and February, O. S. Nock, “"The Aberdonian" in Wartime”, in Railway Magazine, page 7
2. (intransitive, golf, tennis) To play an approach shot.
3. (transitive, intransitive, figurative) Used intransitively, followed by to: to draw near (to someone or something); to make advances; to approximate or become almost equal.
   He approaches to the character of the ablest statesman.
   The great source, as it appears to me, of the power of the Divine Comedy [by Dante Alighieri], is the strong belief with which the story seems to be told. In this respect, the only books which approach to its excellence are Gulliver's Travels and Robinson Crusoe. 1824 January, Tristram Merton [pseudonym; Thomas Babington Macaulay], “Criticisms on the Principal Italian Writers. No. I. Dante.”, in Charles Knight], editor, Knight’s Quarterly Magazine, volume II, number I, London: […] [William Clowes] for Charles Knight,[…], →OCLC, page 215
   Without these incentives to industry the Norwegian would be like the Laplander, without industry and civilisation; and the nearer he approaches to the beau idéal of those political economists—to the state of being without a taste for these foreign and expensive luxuries—the nearer he approaches to the condition of the Laplander in the comforts and enjoyments of life. 1839, Samuel Laing, chapter IX, in A Tour in Sweden in 1838; Comprising Observations on the Moral, Political, and Economical State of the Swedish Nation, London: […] [Andrew Spottiswoode] for Longman, Orme, Brown, Green, & Longmans,[…], →OCLC, page 371
4. (transitive, rarely intransitive) Of an immovable object or a number of such objects: to be positioned as to (notionally) appear to be moving towards (a place).
   As we drove along the driveway, the trees approaching the house seemed more eerie.
5. (transitive, also figurative) To move toward (someone or something) in place, time, character, or value; to draw nearer to.
   “Would counsel please approach the bench?” asked the judge.
   He approached the age of manhood.
   If a variable v takes on successively a series of values that approach nearer and nearer to a constant value l in such a manner that |v-l| [Footnote: To be read the numerical value of the difference between v and l] becomes and remains less than any assigned arbitrarily small positive quantity, then v is said to approach the limit l, or to converge to the limit l. Symbolically this is written operatorname limitv=l. 1904, William Anthony Granville, “Theory of Limits”, in Percey F[ranklyn] Smith, editor, Elements of the Differential and Integral Calculus, Boston, Mass., New York, N.Y.: Ginn & Company, →OCLC, paragraph 29 (Limit of a Variable), page 19
6. (transitive) To bring (something) near something else; to cause (something) to draw near.
7. (transitive) To attempt to make (a policy) or solve (a problem).
8. (transitive) To bring up or propose to (someone) an idea, question, request, etc.
   "Why bother publishing my conversations. It has not helped you, and it is not going to help anybody else", said U. G. when I approached him with the idea of publishing excerpts from his conversations with the constant stream of people who go to visit him. 1987, Dinesh Vaghela, “Publisher’s Note”, in Uppaluri Gopala Krishnamurti, edited by Terry Newland, Mind is a Myth: Disquieting Conversations with the Man Called U. G., Vallabhvidyanagar, Gujarat: Crest Associates, →OCLC, page 7
9. (transitive, archaic, euphemistic) To have sexual intercourse with (someone).
10. (transitive, military) To take approaches to (a place); to move towards (a place) by using covered roads, trenches, or other works.

Etymology 2

From Middle English approche (“approach, arrival”), from approchen, aprochen (“to come or go near, approach; to adjoin, be close by; to enter (someone’s) presence; to be or become involved; to reach (a certain state); to arrive; to befall, happen to; to become similar to, resemble; to be a match for (someone)”); see etymology 1.

noun

1. (also figurative) An act of drawing near in place or time; an advancing or coming near.
   The approach of summer, says our Lord, is not more surely indicated by the first appearances of spring, than the final destruction of the wicked by the beginnings of vengeance on this impenitent people. 1811, Samuel Horsley, “Sermon I. St. James v. 8. For the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.”, in Sermons, volume I, New York, N.Y.: […] T. and J. Swords,[…], →OCLC, page 10
2. An act of coming near in character or value; an approximation.
   The canine, judging from the figures published by M. [Édouard] Lartet, seems to be less developed than in the male chimpanzees, gorillas and orang. In which character the fossil, if it belonged to a male, makes a nearer approach to the human type; but it is one which many of the inferior monkeys also exhibit, and is by no means to be trusted as significant of true affinity, supposing even the sex of the fossil to be known as being male. 10 May 1859, Richard Owen, “Appendix B. On the Orang, Chimpanzee, and Gorilla, with Reference to the ‘Transmutation of Species.’”, in On the Classification and Geographical Distribution of the Mammalia,[…], London: John W[illiam] Parker and Son,[…], →OCLC, page 85
3. (also figurative) An avenue, passage, or way by which a building or place can be approached; an access.
   It was, therefore, natural to expect that the main attack would come from the north along the railroad, and from the east, where the approach from the Transvaal boundary, which is there marked by the Buffalo River, is over a country much more practicable than the western mountain range. 1900, A[lfred] T[hayer] Mahan, “The Opening Campaign in Natal to the Investment of Ladysmith (October 11–November 2)”, in The War in South Africa: A Narrative of the Anglo-Boer War from the Beginning of Hostilities to the Fall of Pretoria, New York, N.Y.: Peter Fenelon Collier & Son, →OCLC, page 31, column 2
   1. (climbing) A path taken to reach the climbing area, for example, from a car park, road, etc.
4. (figurative) A manner of making (a policy) or solving (a problem, etc.).
   Our proposed definitional approach to the data processing-communications dilemma evoked considerable discussion. There is uniform disagreement and confusion as to the regulatory implications of the proposed definitional terms. 2 May 1980, “In the Matter of Amendment of Section 64.702 of the Commission’s Rules and Regulations (Second Computer Inquiry): Final Decision”, in Federal Communications Commission Reports: Decisions and Reports of the Federal Communications Commission of the United States (Docket no. 20828; FCC 80-189), volume 76 (2nd Series), Washington, D.C., published 1982, →OCLC, section IV (Comments), paragraph 41, page 402
   Its [the United States Environmental Protection Agency's] initial approach to controlling the amount of lead in the ambient air was to limit lead emissions from automobiles by restricting the amount of lead in gasoline. 27 June 1980, J[ames] Skelly Wright, Chief Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, “Lead Industries Association, Inc., Petitioner, v. Environmental Protection Agency, Respondent (No. 78-2201)”, in Federal Reporter[…] (2nd Series), volume 647, numbers 1–3, St. Paul, Minn.: West Publishing Co., published 1981, →OCLC, page 1136
   The functional approach [to separation of powers issues] emphasizes the core functions of each branch and asks whether the challenged action threatens the essential attributes of the legislative, executive, or judicial function or functions. Under this approach, there is considerable flexibility in the moving branch, usually Congress acting to make structural or institutional change, if there is little significant risk of impairment of a core function or in the case of such a risk if there is a compelling reason for the action. 1989, Congressional Research Service, “Article I: Legislative Power: Separation of Powers Limitations”, in Johnny H. Killian, George A. Costello, editors, The Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation: 1988 Supplement:[…] (100th Congress, 2nd Session, Senate Document; no. 100-43; United States Congressional Serial Set; no. 13854), Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, →OCLC, page 4
5. (archaic) An opportunity of drawing near; access.
6. (aviation, also attributively) The way an aircraft comes in to land at an airport.
   Most small airplanes maintain a speed well in excess of 1.3 times V_(SO) on an instrument approach. An airplane with a stall speed of 50 knots (V_(SO)) has a normal approach speed of 65 knots. 2001, “Aerodynamic Factors”, in Instrument Flying Handbook 2001 (FAA-H-8083-15), Washington, D.C.: Flight Standards Service, Federal Aviation Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation, page 2-6, column 2
   1. A specific procedure used for approaching and landing at an airport.
      We flew the RNAV/GPS A approach to runway 16.
7. (bowling">bowling) The area before the lane in which a bowler may stand or run up before bowling">bowling the ball.
8. (golf, tennis) Short for approach shot.