Near East
[near a. 4, east n.]
A region comprising the countries of the eastern Mediterranean, sometimes also including those of the Balkan peninsula, south-west Asia, or north Africa. (Also Nearer East.) Also attrib. Cf. Far East, Middle East.
| [1869 Wesleyan-Methodist Mag. (Sixpenny ed.) July 312 (heading) Peeps at the Near East [i.e. Spitalfields in London].] 1891 J. L. Kipling Beast & Man in India iv. 84 There was once a time when in the nearer East..he [sc. the ass] was held in high honour. 1898 W. Miller (title) Travels and politics in the Near East. 1902 D. G. Hogarth (title) The Nearer East. 1909 [see Middle Eastern a.]. 1910 Chambers's Jrnl. Dec. 800/1 In the Near East the keynote of cookery is disguise. The Turk brings his oriental love of mystery with him to the dinner-table. 1912 Review of Reviews July 70/1 (heading) The Near East problem. 1920 Sat. Rev. 16 Oct. 320 He took very little notice of Balkan intrigues, because the Near East was not his business. 1923 E. Wharton Son at Front 10 Poor little circumscribed Paul Dastrey, whose utmost adventure had been..an occasional six weeks in the Near East. 1936 Discovery Sept. 264/1 The Wellcome Archaeological Expedition to the Near East. 1959 Listener 1 Jan. 31/2 Interest in the lands and peoples of the nearer east. 1973 ‘D. Jordan’ Nile Green xliv. 283 Sue..told the Near East Desk, who..sent a cable to the Cairo Embassy. |
Hence Near-ˈEasterly adv., Near-ˈEastern a., Near-ˈEasterner.
| 1906 Q. Rev. Jan. 284 Lord Salisbury and his successor have..skilfully withdrawn England from the Near-Eastern entanglements. 1909 Ibid. Apr. 654 (heading) The Near Eastern question. 1909 Daily Chron. 25 Aug. 3/6 Near-Easterly. Bosnia and Herzegovina have figured recently in European politics. 1925 A. J. Toynbee Survey Internat. Affairs 1920–23 i. 3 They appear..to have refrained from interfering in any way regarding Near Eastern affairs. 1951 E. Paul Springtime in Paris ii. 24 There were a few North Americans, hordes of English, many South Americans, and a few Near-Easterners. Ibid. xii. 215 Helen Hatounian put an Armenian record on the gramophone... The afternoon stillness..was rent with the shrill voice of a near-eastern soprano. 1959 Listener 15 Jan. 145/2 His predilection for the interval of the augmented second (of the near-Eastern scale). |