From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishproximateprox‧i‧mate /ˈprɒksəmət $ ˈprɑːk-/ adjective formal1CAUSEa proximate cause is a direct one2NEARnearest in time, order, or family relationshipSYN closeExamples from the Corpusproximate• It is clear that the proximate cause has been government action.• The proximate cause is more simple.• The proximate cause of death was coloncancer.• The last straw that breaks the camel's back is indeed the proximate cause of that misfortune.• But still these are all proximate causes of poorperformance.• The foregoingdiscussion has dealt with proximate causes.• Sampling directly from the pancreatic ductprovides a more proximatesample for cytological diagnosis and may improve the diagnosticsensitivity.• Regionalnetworksevolved from networks that originally connected geographically proximateuniversities.Originproximate(1500-1600)Latin past participle of proximare"to go near", from proximus"nearest, next"