atmosphere
nounAU, UK /ˈætməsˌfɪə/ · UK /ˈatməsˌfɪː/
Etymology Borrowed from French atmosphère, from New Latin atmosphaera, from Ancient Greek ἀτμός (atmós, “steam”) + σφαῖρα (sphaîra, “sphere”); corresponding to atmo- + -sphere.
1
The gases surrounding the Earth or any astronomical body.
- We may smile now to hear witchcraft spoken seriously of; but we forget perhaps that a belief in it is like a belief in the after appearance of the dead among the blue waters, the green graves, the still starry atmosphere and the great shadowy woods of our earth; […]1828, John Neal, chapter I, in Rachel Dyer: A North American Story, Portland, Me.: Shirley and Hyde, →OCLC, page 22:
- To most people, the huge ice sheets of Antarctica and Greenland are merely water that once was snow. To glaciologists and climatologists, they are storehouses of the Earth's former atmospheres.1988 April 14, Richard Fifield, “Frozen assets of the ice cores”, in New Scientist, number 1608, page 28:
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- Earth is surrounded by a magnetosphere — an invisible bubble of magnetism generated by the powerful churning of molten metals at Earth’s core. It prevents our atmosphere from being stripped away by solar winds blasting it from the sun. While the magnetosphere has been a constant presence for billions of years, its strength waxes and wanes over time.2023 December 27, Mindy Weisberger, “Ancient bricks baked when Nebuchadnezzar II was king absorbed a power surge in Earth’s magnetic field”, in CNN:
2
The air in a particular place.
- The last hue of crimson had died away in the west, and the depth of the rich purple atmosphere was unbroken.1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter I, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 2:
- Thus the red damask curtains which now shut out the fog-laden, drizzling atmosphere of the Marylebone Road, had cost a mere song, and yet they might have been warranted to last another thirty years. A great bargain also had been the excellent Axminster carpet which covered the floor;[…].1913, Mrs. [Marie] Belloc Lowndes, The Lodger, London: Methuen, →OCLC; republished in Novels of Mystery: The Lodger; The Story of Ivy; What Really Happened, New York, N.Y.: Longmans, Green and Co., […], [1933], →OCLC:
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- This year of 1905 also saw the completion of the electrification of the Underground, which certainly improved the atmosphere, and made travelling easier and more comfortable, although, at first, not too reliable.1957 July 23, M. D. Greville, “A Diamond Jubilee of Railway Memories”, in Railway Magazine, page 459:
3
Figuratively The conditions (such as music, illumination, etc.) that can influence the mood felt in an environment.
4
Figuratively The apparent mood felt in an environment.
- The atmosphere for the football match was great.
- For by the hearth the children sit / Cold in that atmosphere of Death, / And scarce endure to draw the breath, / Or like to noiseless phantoms flit: […]1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XX”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 33:
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- Oh, what an atmosphere / I love a party with a happy atmosphere1984, Ben Findon, Eddie Tucker, Steve Rodway, “Atmosphere”, in I Love a Party, performed by Russ Abbot:
5
A unit of measurement for pressure equal to 101325 Pa (symbol: atm), approximately the atmospheric pressure at sea level.
- A process for preparing normally solid high molecular weight, hydrocarbon polymers which comprises heating and reacting carbon monoxide with hydrogen at a temperature of 125 ° to 350 °C, under a pressure of at least 30 atmospheres and in contact with a phosphomolybdic compound represented by the formula P₂Mo_(20–24)O_(2–60).1959, The Canadian Patent Office Record and Register of Copyrights, volume 87, page 6658:
6
Broadcasting, Film, Media, Television Extras in a scene who have no spoken lines.
- Central Casting is in the business of extras, also known as atmosphere or background actors […]2006, Los Angeles Magazine, volume 51, number 2, page 100:
- "It is estimated conservatively that there are some 50,000 would-be film extras in and around the celluloid capital, persons who would jump at the opportunity to appear as atmosphere in pictures," Scott concluded.2013, Kerry Segrave, Extras of Early Hollywood: A History of the Crowd, 1913-1945, page 38:
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- By the way, I discovered that we were not extras but background, as far as the director was concerned; and for the producer, we were atmosphere.2015, William R. Phillippe, The Pastor's Diary:
- Synonyms
- atmosphere
- Derived terms
- atmosphered, atmosphereless, atmospherical, atmospherization, atmospherology, controlled atmosphere, endoatmosphere, exoatmosphere, lower atmosphere, middle atmosphere, modified atmosphere, palaeoatmosphere, paleoatmosphere, protoatmosphere, subatmosphere, upper atmosphere, you could cut the atmosphere with a knife
- Related terms
- atmospheric, atmospherics, ambiance, ambience, mood