atmosphere

B1 Topic:Astronomy & Space

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

Appears in

Phrases (2)

See all

standard atmosphere
a conventional unit of pressure equal to 101,325 pascals

Adjective + noun
convivial atmosphere
a friendly social mood in which people enjoy one another's company

Adjective + noun

Simplified etymology

Atmosphere comes from modern Latin atmosphaera, formed from Greek atmos, “vapour,” and sphaira, “globe.” Its literal meaning is therefore “globe of vapour.”

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 ->

Topics

Astronomy & Space General Vocabulary

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
- Astronomy & Space
- General Vocabulary

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