the property of being close together
"The proximity of the two houses meant they shared a common fence."
the region close around a person or thing
"The sudden noise from his immediate proximity startled everyone in the room."
a Gestalt principle of organization holding that (other things being equal) objects or events that are near to one another (in space or time) are perceived as belonging together as a unit
"Because the scattered lights appeared so close in space, our brains grouped them into a single pattern rather than seeing them as isolated points."
Closeness; the state of being near as in space, time, or relationship.
"The proximity of the storm to our town forced everyone to seek shelter immediately."
In plain English: Proximity is how close something or someone is to you.
"The proximity of the house to the busy highway made driving difficult in the morning."
Usage: Use proximity to describe physical closeness in space or temporal nearness rather than emotional intimacy. It is often confused with similarity, but it specifically refers to how close two things are located together.
The word entered English from the Middle French term proximité, which was derived from the Latin noun proximitas. This Latin root comes from proximus, meaning "nearest" or "closest," describing something that is near in space, time, or relationship.