approximate

Etymology

From Latin approximatus, past participle of approximare (“to approach”); ad + proximare (“to come near”). See proximate.

adj

1. Approaching; proximate; nearly resembling.
2. Nearing correctness; nearly exact; not perfectly accurate.
   approximate results or values
   NASA's Genesis spacecraft has on board an ion monitor to record the speed, density, temperature and approximate composition of the solar wind ions.

verb

1. (transitive, intransitive) To estimate.
   I approximated the value of pi by taking 22 divided by 7.
   As yet, we don't know what the comparable figures will be like for the current financial year which ends in March 2022, but we can have a good stab at approximating them. January 12 2022, Sir Michael Holden, “Reform of the workforce or death by a thousand cuts?”, in RAIL, number 948, page 22
2. (transitive) To come near to; to approach.
   When you follow two separate chains of thought, Watson, you will find some point of intersection which should approximate to the truth. 1911, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax
   The telescope approximates perfection. 1802, Jedidiah Morse, The American Universal Geography
3. (transitive) To carry or advance near; to cause to approach.