Where does “atmosphere” come from?
Atmosphere comes from French atmosphère, from Latin atmosphaera, from Ancient Greek ἀτμός (vapor) and σφαῖρα (sphere), ultimately from σπαίρω (to swell or expand).
atmosphere (English): The gases surrounding the Earth or any...
Definitions
- The gases surrounding the Earth or any...
Ancestry of “atmosphere”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | atmosphère | atmosphere |
| 2 | French | -sphère | -sphere |
| 3 | Late Latin | sphera | Alternative form of sphaera |
| 4 | Latin | sphaera | ball, globe, sphere; a globe of the heavens; a... |
| 5 | Ancient Greek | σφαῖρα | ball, globe, sphere |
| 6 | Ancient Greek | -ειδής | like, connected to, from the nature of, full of;... |
| 7 | Ancient Greek | -ής | adjective suffix |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -ēs | Primarily forms adjectival bahuvrīhi compounds |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | -ess | — |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | -os | Creates action nouns or result nouns from verbs;... |