| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| atmosphere |
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| SYLLABICATION: | at·mos·phere |
| PRONUNCIATION: |   t m -sfîr |
| NOUN: | 1. The gaseous mass or envelope surrounding a celestial body, especially the one surrounding the earth, and retained by the celestial body's gravitational field. 2. The air or climate in a specific place. 3. abbr. atm Physics A unit of pressure equal to the air pressure at sea level. It equals the amount of pressure that will support a column of mercury 760 millimeters high at 0 degrees Celsius under standard gravity, or 14.7 pounds per square inch (1.01325 × 105 pascals). See table at measurement. 4. A dominant intellectual or emotional environment or attitude: an atmosphere of distrust among the electorate. 5. The dominant tone or mood of a work of art. 6. An aesthetic quality or effect, especially a distinctive and pleasing one, associated with a particular place: a restaurant with an Old World atmosphere. | | ETYMOLOGY: | New Latin atmosphaera : Greek atmos, vapor; see wet-1 in Appendix I + Latin sphaera, sphere; see sphere.
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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