Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Approximate \Ap*prox"i*mate\, a. [L. approximatus, p. p. of
   approximare to approach; ad + proximare to come near. See
   {Proximate}.]
   1. Approaching; proximate; nearly resembling.

   2. Near correctness; nearly exact; not perfectly accurate;
      as, approximate results or values.

   {Approximate quantities} (Math.), those which are nearly, but
      not, equal.