Etymograph

English

neighborhood

Neighborhood comes from English neighborred, and goes back to Middle English neȝeburredde.

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500neȝeburredde1
  2. English1500–presentneighborred1
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1599neighborhood1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English neighborhood
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1599, William Shakespeare, The Life of Henry the Fift: “Take her, fair son, and from her blood raise…”.

Lineage

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500neȝeburreddeWiktionary, English neighborhood
  2. English1500–presentneighborredWiktionary, English neighborhood
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1599neighborhoodWiktionary, English neighborhood. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1599, William Shakespeare, The Life of Henry the Fift: “Take her, fair son, and from her blood raise…”

Formed from neighbor + -red

Proto-Germanic *nēhwagabūrô ‘neighbour’

Proto-West Germanic *nāhwagabūrō

Old English nēahġebūr ‘neighbour’

Middle English neyghebour ‘neighbour’

English neighbor

The story

From an alteration of earlier neighborred (‘neighborhood’), from Middle English neȝeburredde, neheborreden, equivalent to neighbor + -red; the term being interpreted as neighbor + -hood. For change in suffix (-red to -hood), compare brotherhood.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Every English word from Middle English neȝeburredde

Today it means

noun The residential area near one's home.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “neighborhood”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Middle English neȝeburredde / neighborhood

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