atmosphere

B1 Topic:Emotions & Feelings

US /ˈætməsˌfɪɹ/ UK /ˈæt.məsˌfɪə(ɹ)/ See IPA manual

Freq #3332

Meanings

1

noun
The layer of gases that surrounds the Earth or another planet.

The spacecraft burned up as it entered the Earth's atmosphere.
2

noun
The mood or feeling of a place or situation.

The atmosphere at the football match was electric.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the layer of gases that... air

2 noun · the mood or feeling of a... ambience mood feeling

Word family

Forms atmospheres

Derived forms atmospheredatmospherelessatmosphericalatmospherizationatmospherologyendoatmosphereexoatmospherepalaeoatmospherepaleoatmosphereprotoatmospheresubatmosphere

Related forms ambianceambience atmospheric atmospherics mood

Etymology

Borrowed from French atmosphère, from New Latin atmosphaera, from Ancient Greek ἀτμός (atmós, “steam”) + σφαῖρα (sphaîra, “sphere”); corresponding to atmo- + -sphere.

atmosphaera la-new ἀτμός Ancient Greek

View etymology graph ->

External links

# atmosphere

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈætməsˌfɪɹ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈæt.məsˌfɪə(ɹ)/
**Frequency rank:** 3332

## Meanings
1. The layer of gases that surrounds the Earth or another planet.
2. The mood or feeling of a place or situation.

## Examples
- The spacecraft burned up as it entered the Earth's atmosphere.
- The atmosphere at the football match was electric.

## Derived Forms
- atmosphered
- atmosphereless
- atmospherical
- atmospherization
- atmospherology
- endoatmosphere
- exoatmosphere
- palaeoatmosphere
- paleoatmosphere
- protoatmosphere
- subatmosphere

## Related Forms
- ambiance
- ambience
- atmospheric
- atmospherics
- mood

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: atmosphaera
- Root: ἀτμός

## Etymology
Borrowed from French atmosphère, from New Latin atmosphaera, from Ancient Greek ἀτμός (atmós, “steam”) + σφαῖρα (sphaîra, “sphere”); corresponding to atmo- + -sphere.

## AI Etymology
Atmosphere is borrowed from French atmosphère, from New Latin atmosphaera, from Ancient Greek ἀτμός (atmós, “steam”) plus σφαῖρα (sphaîra, “sphere”); corresponding to atmo- plus -sphere. The formation is semantically transparent: the parts remain visible, while the compound or affix fixes the grammatical role and narrows the modern meaning. In use as a noun, atmosphere denotes the layer of gases that surrounds the Earth or another planet and the mood or feeling of a place or situation. The same word family continues in derived forms such as atmosphered, atmosphereless, atmospherical, and atmospherization and related entries such as ambiance, ambience, atmospheric, and atmospherics.

## Topics
- Emotions & Feelings

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atmosphere

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