Approximately means close to the true number but not exact. Approximately four hundred, approximately equal, approximately the same.
It is the formal word; about and roughly do the same job more plainly, and in most sentences they are better. Approximately followed by a very precise figure is a common absurdity — approximately 4,127 — because the precision contradicts the hedge. Note approximate, both adjective and verb; approximation, which in mathematics is a technical term; and that the symbol for approximately equal is a wavy equals sign.
1adverbapproximatelyClose to the true number but not exact.
“The flight takes approximately three hours, depending on the wind.”
synonyms: roughly, about
approximately is a degree of exactness.
Also accepted in games: roughly, about
Proto-Indo-European
*-kʷe
Latin
approximātus
Middle English
approximat
English
approximate
English, today
approximately
Built from
From approximate + -ly. approximate comes from Middle English approximat, from Latin approximātus. From Middle English approximat (“close, near (to); similar; intimate”), from Latin approximātus, the perfect passive participle of approximō (see -ate), further from ad- (“to, towards, at”) + proximō (“to come near”). The noun was derived from the adjective through substantivization, see -ate. See also proximate. by surface analysis, ap- + proximate.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA