ambient

1 of 2

adjective

am·​bi·​ent ˈam-bē-ənt 

1

: existing or present on all sides : encompassing

the ambient air temperature

ambient light

ambient sound

2

: of or relating to ambient music (see ambient entry 2 sense 2)

ambient

2 of 2

noun

1

: an encompassing atmosphere : environment

2

: music intended to serve as an unobtrusive accompaniment to other activities (as in a public place) and characterized especially by quiet and repetitive instrumental melodies

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.

Synonyms

Noun

• atmosphere
• climate
• clime
• context
• contexture
• environment
• environs
• medium
• milieu
• mise-en-scène
• setting
• surround
• surroundings
• terrain

Examples of ambient in a Sentence

Adjective

Keep the chemicals at an ambient temperature of 70°F.

the bright ambient light of the room

People shopped as ambient music played in the background.

Noun

observing how the survival techniques of primates vary with the ambient

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

As a result, his first term was characterized by an ambient contempt for him inside his own Administration. —David Remnick, New Yorker, 27 Apr. 2025

The walk-in cooler’s ambient temperature and all food stored inside were measured too warm to be deemed safe. —Camila Pedrosa, Sacbee.com, 25 Apr. 2025

The ambient material around the exploding star is compressed by the shock waves, creating the lovely filaments and ribbons of gas commonly seen in a supernova’s expanding cloud of debris. —Phil Plait, Scientific American, 25 Apr. 2025

His music can best be described as neoclassical, with pop and electronic elements — and a dash of ambient smoothness. —Jessica Gelt, Los Angeles Times, 24 Apr. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

borrowed from Latin ambient-, ambiens, present participle of ambiō, ambīre "to visit in rotation, solicit (political support), seek to obtain, surround, encircle, embrace," from amb- "around, on both sides" + eō, īre "to go"; amb- going back to Indo-European *h₂m̥b^hi "around," whence also Germanic *umbi- (whence Old English ymbe "around, about," Old Frisian umbe, Old Saxon & Old High German umbi "around, about, concerning," Old Icelandic um, umb "around, about, beyond, over"), Gaulish ambi- "around (in names)," Old Irish imb, imm "around, about," Welsh & Breton am, Greek amphí "about, on both sides of," Armenian amb- (in ambołǰ "whole, intact"), Old Avestan aibī "for," Old Persian abiy "to, toward," Sanskrit abhí — more at issue entry 1

Note: The Latin prefix amb- is peculiar in that the expected linking vowel -i- never occurs; before consonants it syncopates, with consequent assimilation: -b- drops, and -m- becomes -n- before non-labial sounds (see amplexus, amputate, ancilla, anfractuous). Indo-European *h₂m̥b^hi may have developed from *h²n̥t-b^hi, a frozen instrumental plural form of the noun *h²ent- "front, face" (see ante-). The same noun figures in *h₂(e)nt-b^hoh₁ "both" (see ambi-).

Noun

derivative of ambient entry 1

First Known Use

Adjective

1572, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

1892, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for ambient

• ambiente

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Kids Definition

ambient

adjective

am·​bi·​ent

ˈam-bē-ənt

: surrounding on all sides

Medical Definition

ambient

adjective

am·​bi·​ent ˈam-bē-ənt 

: surrounding on all sides

the ambient environment

ambient air pollution