Close (from Lat. clausum, shut), a closed place or enclosure. In English law, the term is applied to a portion of land, enclosed or not, held as private property, and to any exclusive interest in land sufficient to maintain an action for trespass quare clausum fregit. The word is also used, particularly in Scotland, of the entry or passage, including the common staircase, of a block of tenement houses, and in architecture for the precincts of a cathedral or abbey.
The adjective “close” (i.e. closed) is found in several phrases, such as “close time” or “close season” (see Game Laws); close borough, one of which the rights and privileges were enjoyed by a limited class (see Borough); close rolls and writs, royal letters, &c., addressed to particular persons, under seal, and not open to public inspection (see Record; Chancery; Letters Patent). From the sense of “closed up,” and so “confined,” comes the common meaning of “near.”
