ambient

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster

Arts, Literature, Language Courses, Education

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🗓️ 22 December 2024

⏱️ 3 minutes

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Summary

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 22, 2024 is:

ambient • \AM-bee-unt\ • adjective

In technical use, ambient describes things—such as air quality or light in a room—that exist or are present on all sides. Ambient is also used to describe electronic music that is quiet and relaxing, with melodies that repeat many times.

// The chemicals must be kept at an ambient temperature of 70°F.

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Examples:

“Many New Yorkers revel in the city’s ambient rumble—the thump of a bass echoing between buildings, the slap of domino tiles on a card table, the growl of off-road bikes rushing down the block.” — Yessenia Funes, Curbed, 11 Aug. 2023

Did you know?

Biologists explore the effects of ambient light on plants; acoustics experts try to control ambient sound; and meteorologists monitor the temperature of ambient air. All this can make ambient seem like a technical term, but when it first saw light of day, that all-encompassing adjective was as likely to be used in poetry as in science, as when Alexander Pope wrote of a mountain “whose tow’ring summit ambient clouds conceal’d.” Both poets and scientists use ambient today to describe things that surround—that is, exist on all sides of—someone or something. And by “all” we mean all. One would not likely describe someone sitting in the middle of their lawn as being amid “ambient grass,” for example. Ambient, which comes from the Latin verb ambīre meaning “to surround, encircle, or embrace,” most often describes things—such as noise or humidity—that are all around someone, from top to bottom.

Transcript

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0:42.0	Today's word is ambient, spelled A-M-B-I-E-N-T. Ambient is an adjective. In technical use, ambient
0:50.8	describes things such as air quality or light in a room that exist or are present on all
0:57.1	sides. Ambient is also used to describe electronic music that is quiet and relaxing with melodies
1:03.9	that repeat many times. Here's the word used in a sentence from Curbed. Many New Yorkers revel in the city's ambient rumble,
1:13.3	the thump of a bass echoing between buildings,
1:15.9	the slap of domino tiles on a card table,
1:19.1	the growl of off-road bikes rushing down the block.
1:23.5	Biologists explore the effects of ambient light on plants.
1:28.3	Acoustics experts try to control ambient sound,
1:32.1	and meteorologists monitor the temperature of ambient air.
1:36.6	All this can make the word ambient seem like a technical term,
1:40.8	but when it first saw light of day, that all-encompassing adjective was as likely to be used
1:46.6	in poetry as in science, as when Alexander Pope wrote of a mountain whose towering summit ambient
1:53.9	clouds concealed. Both poets and scientists use ambient today to describe things that surround, that is, exist on all
2:03.4	sides of, someone or something. And by all we mean all. One would not likely describe someone
2:10.2	sitting in the middle of their lawn as being amid ambient grass, for example. Ambient, which comes
	...

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