ATMOSPHERE

Pronunciation (US):

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does atmosphere mean? 

• ATMOSPHERE (noun)
  The noun ATMOSPHERE has 6 senses:

1. a particular environment or surrounding influence

2. a unit of pressure: the pressure that will support a column of mercury 760 mm high at sea level and 0 degrees centigrade

3. the mass of air surrounding the Earth

4. the weather or climate at some place

5. the envelope of gases surrounding any celestial body

6. a distinctive but intangible quality surrounding a person or thing

  Familiarity information: ATMOSPHERE used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ATMOSPHERE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A particular environment or surrounding influence

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

ambiance; ambience; atmosphere

Context example:

there was an atmosphere of excitement

Hypernyms ("atmosphere" is a kind of...):

condition; status (a state at a particular time)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "atmosphere"):

genius loci (the special atmosphere of a place)

gloom; gloominess; glumness (an atmosphere of depression and melancholy)

miasm; miasma (an unwholesome atmosphere)

feel; feeling; flavor; flavour; look; smell; spirit; tone (the general atmosphere of a place or situation and the effect that it has on people)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A unit of pressure: the pressure that will support a column of mercury 760 mm high at sea level and 0 degrees centigrade

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

Synonyms:

atm; atmosphere; standard atmosphere; standard pressure

Hypernyms ("atmosphere" is a kind of...):

pressure unit (a unit measuring force per unit area)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "atmosphere"):

s.t.p.; STP (standard temperature and pressure)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The mass of air surrounding the Earth

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Synonyms:

air; atmosphere

Context example:

it was exposed to the air

Hypernyms ("atmosphere" is a kind of...):

part; region (the extended spatial location of something)

Meronyms (parts of "atmosphere"):

air space; airspace (the space in the atmosphere immediately above the earth)

ionosphere (the outer region of the Earth's atmosphere; contains a high concentration of free electrons)

Part meronym:

earth; globe; world (the 3rd planet from the sun; the planet we live on)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "atmosphere"):

airspace (the atmosphere above a nation that is deemed to be under its jurisdiction)

Derivation:

atmospheric; atmospherical (relating to or located in the atmosphere)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The weather or climate at some place

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

atmosphere; atmospheric state

Context example:

the atmosphere was thick with fog

Hypernyms ("atmosphere" is a kind of...):

atmospheric condition; conditions; weather; weather condition (the atmospheric conditions that comprise the state of the atmosphere in terms of temperature and wind and clouds and precipitation)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "atmosphere"):

air mass (a large body of air with uniform characteristics horizontally)

anticyclone ((meteorology) winds spiraling outward from a high pressure center; circling clockwise in the northern hemisphere and counterclockwise in the southern)

cyclone ((meteorology) rapid inward circulation of air masses about a low pressure center; circling counterclockwise in the northern hemisphere and clockwise in the southern)

fog; fogginess; murk; murkiness (an atmosphere in which visibility is reduced because of a cloud of some substance)

Derivation:

atmospheric (relating to or located in the atmosphere)

Sense 5

Meaning:

The envelope of gases surrounding any celestial body

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Hypernyms ("atmosphere" is a kind of...):

gas (a fluid in the gaseous state having neither independent shape nor volume and being able to expand indefinitely)

Meronyms (parts of "atmosphere"):

troposphere (the lowest atmospheric layer; from 4 to 11 miles high (depending on latitude))

thermosphere (the atmospheric layer between the mesosphere and the exosphere)

stratosphere (the atmospheric layer between the troposphere and the mesosphere)

mesosphere (the atmospheric layer between the stratosphere and the thermosphere)

exosphere (the outermost atmospheric layer)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "atmosphere"):

sky (the atmosphere and outer space as viewed from the earth)

Derivation:

atmospheric; atmospherical (relating to or located in the atmosphere)

Sense 6

Meaning:

A distinctive but intangible quality surrounding a person or thing

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

air; atmosphere; aura

Context example:

the place had an aura of romance

Hypernyms ("atmosphere" is a kind of...):

quality (an essential and distinguishing attribute of something or someone)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "atmosphere"):

mystique (an aura of heightened value or interest or meaning surrounding a person or thing)

note (a characteristic emotional quality)

vibe; vibration (a distinctive emotional aura experienced instinctively)

 Context examples 

The final plunge will take place on the day side of Saturn, near local noon, with the spacecraft entering the atmosphere around 10 degrees north latitude.

(Cassini Spacecraft Makes Its Final Approach to Saturn, NASA)

Plants take up a large portion of the carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere — fewer trees means more CO2.

(What's killing trees during droughts?, National Science Foundation)

Like Earth, Uranus and Neptune have seasons, which likely drive some of the features in their atmospheres.

(Hubble Reveals Dynamic Atmospheres of Uranus, Neptune, NASA)

A lonely 3-mile-high (5-kilometer-high) mountain on Ceres is likely volcanic in origin, and the dwarf planet may have a weak, temporary atmosphere.

(Ceres' Geological Activity, Ice Revealed in New Research, NASA)

New images obtained on May 16, 2016, by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope confirm the presence of a dark vortex in the atmosphere of Neptune.

(Hubble Imagery Confirms New Dark Spot on Neptune, NASA)

Vaterite is not very stable in the Earth’s humid atmosphere as it often reverts to more common forms of calcium carbonate, such as calcite.

(Rare mineral discovered in plants for first time, University of Cambridge)

The scientists quantified the environmental effects in terms of critical zone services, including impacts on the atmosphere and on water quality, and looked at corn's societal value both as food and fuel.

(Corn better used as food than biofuel, National Science Foundation)

Currently, only about 1 percent of carbon emissions are removed from the atmosphere and stored.

(Scientists Turn CO2 into Solid Coal, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

If attached, choose to meet in a restaurant known for delicious food with an atmosphere of flowers, candlelight, perhaps a fireplace with a warm, crackling fire, and crisp white tablecloths. Heaven!

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

Dust in the Martian atmosphere has fine particles that permit blue light to penetrate the atmosphere more efficiently than longer-wavelength colors.

(Sunset in Mars' Gale Crater, NASA)