Adjoining means being next to or touching at a border or boundary. It describes entities that are physically adjacent or in close proximity, often sharing a common edge or border. The term is commonly used in legal, architectural, and geographical contexts to denote proximity or connection between features or areas.
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"The adjoining rooms share a doorway, making it easy to move between them."
"Several trees and shrubs now form an adjoining hedge along the property line."
"We visited the adjoining properties to discuss shared access to utilities."
"The plan includes an adjoining wing that will expand the building without altering the main structure."
Adjoining comes from the verb join, with the present participle suffix -ing, prefixed by a to- forming a participial adjective in Middle English. The root join derives from Latin iungere, from iun- (joining). The form adjoining gained prominence in English around the 15th century as a participial adjective denoting entities that are touching or next to each other. The sense evolved from physical joining to omitting or adding spaces in boundary regions, and later to describe proximity in legal or geographic contexts. Over time, adjoining became a standard adjective in legal documents and real estate descriptions, frequently paired with nouns like property, rooms, and parcels. The word retains a strong spatial resonance: “adjoining” implies immediate adjacency rather than mere proximity, and its usage is common in planning, architecture, and property law to indicate a border-sharing relationship. The semantic evolution parallels other -ing adjectives that originate from participles, keeping a precise, technical tone in professional language while retaining general readability in everyday use. First known uses appear in Middle English legal and land-ownership records, where precise boundaries and adjoining parcels needed clear identification. Today, “adjoining” remains a compact, formal term frequently found in real estate, construction, and land-use documents.
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "adjoining" and can often be used interchangeably.
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Words that rhyme with "adjoining"
-ing sounds
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Usual pronunciation: ə-ˈdȷɔ-nəŋ, with primary stress on the second syllable. IPA: US/UK/AU: əˈdʒɔɪnɪŋ. Start with a schwa, then a stressed /dʒɔɪ/ cluster as in 'join', followed by a light /nɪŋ/. Lips relaxed, tongue slightly raised for /ɔɪ/, and the final -ing with a clear nasal /ŋ/. You’ll hear the two-tone rhythm: short unstressed syllable, then strong secondary beat, then a quick -ing. Audio reference: listen to native speakers saying “adjoining” in phrases like “adjoining rooms” for natural intonation.
Common errors: (1) Merging the /dʒ/ with a simple /d/ or /j/—keep the affricate sound /dʒ/ as in 'join'. (2) Misplacing the stress, saying /ˈædɒnɪŋ/ or distributing stress evenly; keep primary stress on the second syllable: ə-ˈdʒɔɪn-ɪŋ. (3) Vowel quality in the /ɔɪ/ diphthong; avoid a pure /ɔ/ or /oʊ/. Use /ɔɪ/ as in ‘join’. Corrections: practice the /dʒ/ by starting with /d/ then quickly raising to /ʒ/; emphasize the /ɔɪ/ by starting with mid-back rounded vowel then glide to /ɪ/; place stress on the second syllable and keep the final -ing unstressed or lightly stressed: ə-DJOYN-ing.
US: /əˈdʒɔɪnɪŋ/, rhotic, with a clear /ɹ/ in connected speech. UK: /əˈdʒɔɪnɪŋ/, non-rhotic usually; the /ɔɪ/ diphthong similar but with tighter jaw. AU: /əˈd͡ʒɔɪnɪŋ/, vowels flatter and a slightly rounded lip posture; stress remains on the second syllable, but vowel length is less pronounced in rapid speech. In all, focus on the /dʒ/ affricate and the /ɔɪ/ diphthong; the main variation is rhoticity and vowel quality. IPA notes: US /əˈdʒɔɪnɪŋ/; UK /əˈdʒɔɪnɪŋ/; AU /əˈd͡ʒɔɪnɪŋ/.
Two main challenges: the /dʒ/ affricate requires precise tongue position—start with /d/ then instantly release to /ʒ/; the /ɔɪ/ diphthong moves from mid-back rounded to near-high front, which can cause a rough vowel if you’re not leading the glide smoothly. Also, maintaining the secondary stress on the second syllable without overemphasizing the first. Practice by isolating the /dʒɔɪ/ sequence slowly, then loop into faster speech.
Note that the ending suffix -ing merges with the preceding /ɪ/ to make a quick, light -ɪŋ. The 'joine' is not a long /oʊ/ as in 'join'; instead, it’s the settled /ɔɪ/ followed by a soft -nɪŋ. Emphasize the strong syllable on -dʒɔɪ- and relax into the -nɪŋ. The key phonetic twist is handling the /dʒ/ followed by the glide /ɔɪ/ cleanly.
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