atmosphere

See also: atmosphère

English

Alternative forms

• atmosphære (archaic)

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈæt.məsˌfɪə(ɹ)/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈætməsˌfɪɹ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

atmosphere (countable and uncountable, plural atmospheres)

1. The gases surrounding the Earth or any astronomical body.

   Coordinate terms: hydrosphere, biosphere

   Meronyms: see Thesaurus:atmosphere

2. The air in a particular place.
   • 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], 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

5. A unit of measurement for pressure equal to 101325 Pa (symbol: atm)
6. (television, film, uncountable) Extras in a scene who have no spoken lines.
   • 2006, Los Angeles Magazine (volume 51, number 2, page 100)

     Central Casting is in the business of extras, also known as atmosphere or background actors […]

   • 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.

Derived terms

• endoatmosphere
• exoatmosphere
• lower atmosphere
• middle atmosphere
• modified atmosphere
• protoatmosphere
• subatmosphere
• you could cut the atmosphere with a knife

 

Related terms

• atmospheric
• atmospherics

Translations

gases surrounding the Earth

• Afrikaans: atmosfeer (af)
• Albanian: atmosferë (sq)
• Arabic: جَو‎ m (jaw), غِلَاف جَوِّيّ‎ m (ḡilāf jawwiyy)

  Hijazi Arabic: غلاف جوي‎ m (ḡilāf jawwi)

• Armenian: մթնոլորտ (hy) (mtʿnolort)
• Asturian: atmósfera (ast) f
• Azerbaijani: atmosfer
• Bashkir: атмосфера (atmosfera)
• Belarusian: атмасфе́ра f (atmasfjéra), атмасфэ́ра f (atmasféra)
• Bengali: বায়ুমণ্ডল (bn) (baẏumoṇḍol)
• Breton: aergelc’h m
• Bulgarian: атмосфе́ра (bg) f (atmosféra)
• Burmese: လေထု (my) (lehtu.)
• Catalan: atmosfera (ca) f, aerosfera f
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 大氣層／大气层 (daai⁶ hei³ cang⁴)

  Mandarin: 大氣／大气 (zh) (dàqì), 氣圈／气圈 (zh) (qìquān), 大氣層／大气层 (zh) (dàqìcéng)

  Min Nan: 大氣／大气 (zh-min-nan) (tāi-khì)

• Czech: atmosféra (cs), ovzduší (cs)
• Danish: atmosfære (da) c
• Dutch: atmosfeer (nl) m, dampkring (nl) m
• Esperanto: atmosfero
• Estonian: atmosfäär (et), õhkkond (et), õhustik (et)
• Finnish: ilmakehä (fi), atmosfääri (fi)
• French: atmosphère (fr) m
• Galician: atmosfera (gl) f
• Georgian: ატმოსფერო (aṭmospero)
• German: Atmosphäre (de) f
• Greek: ατμόσφαιρα (el) f (atmósfaira)
• Gujarati: વાતાવરણ m (vātāvraṇ)
• Hawaiian: lewa
• Hebrew: אטמוספירה \ אַטְמוֹסְפֶרָה‎ (he) f (atmosfera)
• Hindi: वायुमण्डल (hi) m (vāyumaṇḍal), वायुमंडल (hi) m (vāyumaṇḍal), वातावरण (hi) m (vātāvraṇ)
• Hungarian: atmoszféra (hu), légkör (hu)
• Iban: atmosfera
• Icelandic: andrúmsloft (is) n, lofthjúpur (is) n
• Ido: atmosfero (io)
• Indonesian: atmosfer (id)
• Interlingua: atmosphera
• Irish: atmaisféar, aerbhrat m
• Italian: atmosfera (it) f
• Japanese: 大気 (ja) (たいき, taiki), 大気圏 (ja) (たいきけん, taikiken)
• Kalmyk: атмосфер (atmosfer)
• Kazakh: атмосфера (atmosfera)
• Khmer: បរិយាកាស (km) (paʼreyaakaah)
• Korean: 대기(大氣) (ko) (daegi), 대기권(大氣圈) (ko) (daegigwon)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: keşûhewa (ku) m, atmosfer (ku) f

• Kyrgyz: атмосфера (ky) (atmosfera)
• Lao: ບັນຍາກາດ (lo) (ban nyā kāt)
• Latvian: atmosfēra (lv) f
• Lithuanian: atmosfera f
• Macedonian: атмосфера (mk) f (atmosfera)
• Malay: atmosfera (ms)
• Malayalam: അന്തരീക്ഷം (ml) (antarīkṣaṃ)
• Maltese: atmosfera f
• Mapudungun: neyenmapu
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: агаар мандал (agaar mandal)

• Norman: atmosphère m (Guernsey), atmosphéthe m (Jersey)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: atmosfære (no) m

  Nynorsk: atmosfære m

• Occitan: atmosfèra (oc) f
• Parthian: 𐭀𐭍𐭕𐭓𐭅𐭀𐭆‎ (ʾntrwʾz /andarwāz/)
• Pashto: دمامه‎ (ps) f (damámá), هواويجه‎ f (hawāweǰa)
• Persian: اندروا‎ (fa) (andarvâ), جو‎ (fa) (jav), اتمسفر‎ (fa) (atmosfer)
• Polish: atmosfera (pl) f
• Portuguese: atmosfera (pt) f
• Romanian: atmosferă (ro) f
• Russian: атмосфе́ра (ru) f (atmosféra)
• Sanskrit: वायुमण्डलम् n (vāyumaṇḍalam)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: атмосфе́ра f

  Roman: atmosféra (sh) f

• Slovak: atmosféra (sk) f, ovzdušie n
• Slovene: atmosfera (sl) f, ozračje (sl) n
• Spanish: atmósfera (es) f, aire (es) m
• Swahili: angahewa
• Swedish: atmosfär (sv) c
• Tagalog: kaanginan, kahanginan
• Tajik: атмосфера (atmosfera)
• Tamil: ககனம் (ta) (kakaṉam)
• Tatar: атмосфера (atmosfera)
• Telugu: వాతావరణము (te) (vātāvaraṇamu)
• Thai: บรรยากาศ (th) (ban-yaa-gàat)
• Turkish: atmosfer (tr), havaküre
• Turkmen: atmosfera (tk)
• Tuvan: атмосфера (atmosfera)
• Ukrainian: атмосфе́ра (uk) f (atmosféra)
• Urdu: کرہ ہوائی‎
• Uyghur: ئاتموسفېرا‎ (atmosfëra)
• Uzbek: atmosfera (uz)
• Vietnamese: khí quyển (vi)
• Volapük: lutem (vo)
• Welsh: awyrgylch m
• Yiddish: אַטמאָספֿער‎ f (atmosfer), אַטמאָספֿערע‎ f (atmosfere)

air in a particular place

• Albanian: atmosferë (sq)
• Asturian: atmósfera (ast) f
• Belarusian: атмасфе́ра f (atmasfjéra)
• Bulgarian: атмосфе́ра (bg) f (atmosféra)
• Catalan: atmosfera (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 空氣／空气 (zh) (kōngqì), 環境／环境 (zh) (huánjìng)

• Dutch: atmosfeer (nl) m
• Esperanto: atmosfero
• Estonian: õhkkond (et), õhustik (et), atmosfäär (et)
• Finnish: ilma (fi), atmosfääri (fi)
• French: atmosphère (fr) m
• Galician: atmosfera (gl) f
• Greek: ατμόσφαιρα (el) f (atmósfaira)
• Indonesian: atmosfer (id)
• Interlingua: atmosphera
• Japanese: 空気 (ja) (くうき, kūki)
• Kalmyk: атмосфер (atmosfer)
• Korean: 공기(空氣) (ko) (gonggi)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: atmosfer (ku) f

• Lithuanian: atmosfera f
• Norman: atmosphère m (Guernsey), atmosphéthe m (Jersey)
• Occitan: atmosfèra (oc) f
• Persian: اندروا‎ (fa) (andarvâ)
• Polish: atmosfera (pl) f
• Portuguese: atmosfera (pt) f
• Romanian: atmosferă (ro) f
• Russian: во́здух (ru) m (vózdux), микроклимат (ru) m (mikroklimat)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: атмосфе́ра f

  Roman: atmosféra (sh) f

• Spanish: atmósfera (es) f
• Telugu: వాతావరణం (te) (vātāvaraṇaṁ)
• Ukrainian: атмосфе́ра (uk) f (atmosféra)
• Vietnamese: bầu không khí

environment, conditions, ambience

• French: ambience (fr) f
• Galician: ambiente (gl) m
• Indonesian: situasi (id)
• Interlingua: ambiente
• Portuguese: ambiente (pt) m
• Romanian: ambient (ro) m, ambianță (ro) f
• Russian: обстано́вка (ru) f (obstanóvka)
• Spanish: clima (es) m

mood or feeling

• Albanian: atmosferë (sq)
• Arabic: جَو‎ (jaw)
• Asturian: atmósfera (ast) f
• Azerbaijani: ab-hava (az), ovqat (az)
• Bulgarian: атмосфера (bg) (atmosfera)
• Catalan: atmosfera (ca) f, ambient (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 氣氛／气氛 (zh) (qìfēn), 氛圍／氛围 (zh) (fēnwéi), 情調／情调 (zh) (qíngdiào)

• Czech: atmosféra (cs)
• Danish: atmosfære (da) c
• Dutch: sfeer (nl) m
• Esperanto: etoso
• Estonian: õhkkond (et), õhustik (et), atmosfäär (et)
• Finnish: ilmapiiri (fi), tunnelma (fi), henki (fi)
• French: ambiance (fr) f
• Galician: atmosfera (gl) f, ambiente (gl) m
• Georgian: ატმოსფერო (aṭmospero), გარემო (garemo)
• German: Atmosphäre (de) f
• Greek: ατμόσφαιρα (el) f (atmósfaira)
• Hebrew: אווירה / אֲוִירָה‎ (he) f (avirá)
• Hungarian: hangulat (hu)
• Indonesian: atmosfer (id), suasana (id), situasi (id)
• Interlingua: atmosphera, ambiente
• Japanese: 雰囲気 (ja) (ふんいき, fun'iki)
• Korean: 분위기(雰圍氣) (ko) (bunwigi)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: atmosfer (ku) f

• Lithuanian: atmosfera f
• Malay: suasana
• Maltese: atmosfera, burdata
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: atmosfære (no) m

  Nynorsk: atmosfære m

• Persian: اندروا‎ (fa) (andarvâ), جو‎ (fa) (jav)
• Polish: atmosfera (pl) f, nastrój (pl) m inan
• Portuguese: atmosfera (pt) f, ambiente (pt) m
• Romanian: atmosferă (ro) f, ambient (ro) m, ambianță (ro) f
• Russian: настрое́ние (ru) n (nastrojénije), настро́й (ru) m (nastrój)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: угођај m, атмосфе́ра f

  Roman: ugođaj (sh) m, atmosféra (sh) f

• Spanish: atmósfera (es) f, ambiente (es) m, clima (es) m
• Swedish: atmosfär (sv) c
• Telugu: వాతావరణం (te) (vātāvaraṇaṁ)
• Turkish: atmosfer (tr)
• Ukrainian: атмосфе́ра (uk) f (atmosféra)
• Vietnamese: bầu không khí, không khí (vi)
• Volapük: dälod

a unit of measurement for pressure

• Asturian: atmósfera (ast) f
• Bulgarian: атмосфе́ра (bg) f (atmosféra)
• Catalan: atmosfera (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 大氣壓／大气压 (zh) (dàqìyā), 氣壓／气压 (zh) (qìyā)

• Czech: atmosféra (cs) f
• Danish: atmosfære (da) c
• Dutch: atmosfeer (nl) m
• Estonian: atmosfäär (et)
• Finnish: normaali-ilmakehä, ilmakehä (fi)
• French: atmosphère (fr) m
• Galician: atmosfera (gl) f
• German: Atmosphäre (de)
• Greek: ατμόσφαιρα (el) f (atmósfaira)
• Hungarian: atmoszféra (hu)
• Indonesian: atmosfer (id)
• Norman: atmosphère m (Guernsey), atmosphéthe m (Jersey)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: atmosfære (no) m

  Nynorsk: atmosfære m

• Persian: اتمسفر‎ (fa)
• Polish: atmosfera (pl) n
• Portuguese: atmosfera (pt) f, atmosfera física f
• Russian: атмосфе́ра (ru) f (atmosféra)
• Swedish: atmosfär (sv) c
• Turkish: atmosfer (tr)
• Ukrainian: атмосфе́ра (uk) f (atmosféra)

extras in a scene who have no spoken lines

• Russian: массо́вка (ru) f (massóvka)

See also

• ambiance, ambience
• mood