adjective

adjacent

uh-JAY-sunt/əˈdʒeɪsnt/

Next to or very near something else.

The two adjacent houses stand with only a narrow gap between them.

Two simple houses stand immediately next to each other, their neighboring side walls separated by only a narrow gap.

Etymology

adLatinto, near

+jacLatinto lie, rest

+entLatinpresent participle

The pieces express “lying near”: adjacent describes where something rests in relation to something else. Nearness is central; contact is not required.

In context

Nuttall's Biology4:03

there are also intervertebral discs where the adjacent vertebral bodies articulate the intervertebral disk contains a pad of fibrocartilage in order to prevent the vertebral bodies from contacting one another

Axial Skeleton Part 3

More examples

We booked adjacent rooms so the family could stay together.
The fire spread to an adjacent field.
Two adjacent tiles have slightly different colors.

Similar words

adjoining: More strongly suggests direct contact or a shared boundary.
nearby: Does not imply being immediately next to something.