Remote (r-mt), a. [Compar. Remoter (-r); superl. Remotest.] — Webster enters it under “remote”
Etymology: [L. remotus, p. p. of removere to remove. See Remove.]
1. Removed to a distance; not near; far away; distant; -- said in respect to time or to place; as, remote ages; remote lands. Places remote enough are in Bohemia. Shak. Remote from men, with God he passed his days. Parnell.
2. Hence, removed; not agreeing, according, or being related; -- in various figurative uses. Specifically: (a) Not agreeing; alien; foreign. "All these propositions, how remote soever from reason." Locke. (b) Not nearly related; not close; as, a remote connection or consanguinity. (c) Separate; abstracted. "Wherever the mind places itself by any thought, either amongst, or remote from, all bodies." Locke. (d) Not proximate or acting directly; primary; distant. "From the effect to the remotest cause." Granville. (e) Not obvious or sriking; as, a remote resemblance.
3. (Bot.)
Separated by intervals greater than usual. -- Re*mote"ly, adv. -- Re*mote"ness, n.
Shades of meaning
Fernald lists remoteness only as an antonym, under approximation.
He lists it without comment; the entries above explain its neighbors.