Nearly means very close to but not quite. Nearly finished, nearly two hours, I nearly forgot.
It is almost interchangeable with almost, and the exception is worth knowing: almost can go with negatives and nearly cannot — almost nobody came, not nearly nobody came. Nearly also works with not to mean far from: not nearly enough, not nearly as good. Note that nearly is not the adverb of near in the sense of distance: the shop is near, and I nearly fell are two different words doing two different jobs.
1adverbnearlyVery close to but not completely.
“The building is nearly finished.”
synonyms: almost, practically
2adverbmeanUsed with not to mean far from.
“There is not nearly enough for everybody.”
Too few real examples of this word to estimate which sense is commonest.
nearly is a degree of closeness.
Also accepted in games: almost
Proto-Indo-European
*h₂neḱ- — to reach
Proto-Germanic
*nēhwiz — nearer
Old Norse
nær — near
Middle English
nere
English
near
English, today
nearly
Built from
From near + -ly. Cognate with Scots nerelie, neirlie (“nearly”). Compare also English nearling, nearlings. near comes from Middle English nere, ner, from Old English nēar (“nearer”), influenced by Old Norse nær (“near”), both originating from Proto-Germanic nēhwiz (“nearer”), comparative of the adverb nēhw (“near”), from the adjective nēhwaz, ultimately from Pre-Proto-Germanic h₂nḗḱwos, a lengthened-grade adjective derived from Proto-Indo-European h₂neḱ- (“to reach”). 2 Cognate with frr nai, noi, näi (“close, near”), stq nai (“close, near”), Dutch na (“close”), naar (“to, towards”), nds-nl nao (“after”), German nach (“after”), nahe (“near”), näher (“nearer”), German Low German nao, nå (“towards”), lb no (“after”), Danish, Faroese, Icelandic, Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk nær (“close, near”), Swedish när, nära (“close, near”), Gothic 𐌽𐌴𐍈 (“close, near”). See also nigh.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA