From Middle High German nāchgebūr(e), from Old High German nāhgibūr(o), from Proto-West Germanic *nāhwagabūrō, from Proto-Germanic *nēhwagabūrô (“neighbour”). Equivalent to nah, nach (“near, next, after”) + Bauer (“dweller, farmer”). The first component underwent pre-cluster shortening, the second was monophthongized from Early Modern German Baur (and then possibly associated with the unrelated suffix -bar).