CLOSENESS, noun 1. The state of being shut, pressed together, or united. Hence according to the nature of the thing to which the word is applied. 2. Compactness; solidity; as the closeness of texture in wood or fossils. 3. Narrowness; straitness; as of a place. 4. Tightness in building, or in apartments; firmness of texture in cloth, etc. 5. Want of ventilation; applied to a close room, or to the air confined in it. 6. Confinement or retirement of a person; recluseness; solitude. 7. Reserve in intercourse; secrecy; privacy; caution. 8. Covetousness; penuriousness. 9. Connection; near union; intimacy, whether of friendship, or of interest; as the closeness of friendship, or of alliance. 10. Pressure; urgency; variously applied; as the closeness of an agreement, or of debate; the closeness of a question or inquiry. 11. Adherence to an original; as the closeness of a version.
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI