English
atmosphere
Etymology

From French atmosphère, from nl. atmosphaera, from Ancient Greek ἀτμός + σφαῖρα; corresponding to atmo- + -sphere.

Pronunciation
  • (British) IPA: /ˈæt.məsˌfɪə(ɹ)/
  • (America) IPA: /ˈætməsˌfɪɹ/
Noun

atmosphere

  1. The gases surrounding the Earth or any astronomical body.
    Meronyms: see Thesaurus:atmosphere
    Coordinate terms: hydrosphere, biosphere
  2. The air in a particular place.
    • 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter I, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC ↗, page 2 ↗:
      The last hue of crimson had died away in the west, and the depth of the rich purple atmosphere was unbroken.
    • 1913, Mrs. [Marie] Belloc Lowndes, chapter I, in 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 ↗, page 0016 ↗:
      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; […].
  3. (figuratively) The conditions (such as music, illumination etc.) that can influence the mood felt in an environment.
    Synonyms: air, ambiance
  4. (figuratively) The apparent mood felt in an environment.
    Synonyms: feeling, mood
    • 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC ↗, Canto XX, page 33 ↗:
      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: […]
  5. A unit of measurement for pressure equal to 101325 Pa (symbol: atm), approximately the atmospheric pressure at sea level.
  6. (television, film, uncountable) Extras in a scene who have no spoken lines.
    • 2013, Kerry Segrave, Extras of Early Hollywood: A History of the Crowd, 1913-1945, page 38:
      "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.
    • 2015, William R. Phillippe, The Pastor's Diary:
      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.
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