atmosphere

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈæt.məs.fɪə/, US /ˈæt.məs.fɪr/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from New Latin atmosphaera,^[2][3][4] used by Bishop John Wilkins in 1638 in his book on the Moon,^[5] perhaps also influenced by French atmosphère (1665).^[5] The New Latin word is from Greek Ancient Greek ἀτμός (atmós, “vapour, steam”) and Ancient Greek σφαῖρα (sphaîra, “ball, globe”).^[2][6] It is related to sphere.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The gaseous envelope around the Earth or another heavenly body: 1638 in the OED and MWU, the 1630s in Etymonline.^[7][3][2] The Latin-shaped form atmosphaera came first, and the modern form is from the 1670s (1677 in Barnhart).^[2][5] It was first used in English of the Moon, which has almost none.^[2]

Semantic evolution

According to the OED, as summarized by Barnhart, it first meant a ring of vapour supposed to be exhaled by a planet, then the air close to it, and finally all the surrounding air.^[5] A magnetic atmosphere, the sphere in which a magnet attracts, is from 1668,^[7] and the air of a particular place from 1767.^[7] The figurative sense, a surrounding mental or moral element or mood, is from 1797–1803.^[7][5] As a unit of pressure it is from 1830,^[7] and background sounds that set a mood, as in radio or film, from 1941.^[7]

Timeline

• 1638 – the air around the Earth.^[7][3]
• 1677 – the modern form.^[5]
• 1767 – the air of a place.^[7]
• 1797–1803 – figurative, surrounding influence.^[7][5]
• 1830 – a unit of pressure.^[7]
• 1941 – background sounds.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The layer of gases around the Earth or another planet.
2. The air in a particular place.
3. The general feeling or mood of a place or situation.
4. (physics) A unit of pressure equal to normal air pressure at sea level.

Word family

• atmosphered
• atmosphereless
• upper atmosphere

Related words

• atmospheric
• atmospherics
• sphere

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press