Literary notes about proximate (AI summary)
"Proximate" is employed in literature to denote immediacy or directness, whether referring to physical closeness, immediate causation, or a direct relationship in a sequence of events. In scientific or technical texts, it can indicate a measured composition or the last step in a chain of reactions ([1], [2]), while in philosophical, legal, and sociological discussions it distinguishes the direct, intervening factors from more remote or fundamental causes ([3], [4], [5]). The term also appears in contexts that explore immediate effects—such as the proximate cause of a particular outcome or behavior ([6], [7], [8])—and even in more nuanced literary or rhetorical expressions where temporal or spatial proximity plays a key role in shaping meaning ([9], [10]).
- Proximate Composition of Organic Substances.—
— from The Stock-Feeder's Manual the chemistry of food in relation to the breeding and feeding of live stock by Cameron, Charles Alexander, Sir - It has successfully eliminated a great number of proximate compounds, more or less stable, from organic structures.
— from The Works of Oliver Wendell Holmes: An Index of the Project Gutenberg Editions by Oliver Wendell Holmes - In every case of loss fire must be the proximate cause of the loss.
— from Putnam's Handy Law Book for the Layman by Albert Sidney Bolles - Another task which lies before the historian is that of distinguishing proximate from ultimate causes.
— from Historical and Political Essays by William Edward Hartpole Lecky - The answer rests on a distinction between proximate and remote duty.
— from Moral Philosophy: Ethics, Deontology and Natural Law by Joseph Rickaby - Truly I should like him to explain this union through its proximate cause.
— from Ethics by Benedictus de Spinoza - The first question to be considered is—what was the immediate and proximate cause of his death.
— from The Most Extraordinary Trial of William Palmer, for the Rugeley Poisonings, which lasted Twelve Days by Anonymous - Ordinary cases of liability arise out of a choice which was the proximate cause of the harm upon which the action is founded.
— from The Common Law by Oliver Wendell Holmes - The proximate date would, therefore, seem to be January or February, 1562.
— from History of the Rise of the Huguenots Vol. 1 by Henry Martyn Baird - Thus, since danger in moral matters is nearly always relative; what is a remote occasion for one may be a proximate occasion for another.
— from Explanation of Catholic Morals A Concise, Reasoned, and Popular Exposition of Catholic Morals by John H. (John Henry) Stapleton
