milieu

play

noun mi·lieu \mēl-ˈyə(r), -ˈyü, -ˈyœ; ˈmēl-ˌyü\

Definition of milieu

plural

milieus

milieux

play \-ˈyə(r)(z), -ˈyüz, -ˈyœ(z); -ˌyü(z)\

: the physical or social setting in which something occurs or develops : environment

See milieu defined for English-language learners

See milieu defined for kids

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Examples of milieu in a Sentence

Theirs was a bohemian milieu in which people often played romantic musical chairs. —Edmund White, New York Review of Books, 12 Feb. 2009
People in France admire the United States, and much of what passes for anti-Americanism is limited to the intellectual milieu of Paris. —Jonathan Alter et al., Newsweek, 29 May 2000
She might stay home, might marry and live as a housewife. And if her milieu does not sanction such a solution, there are, she knows, milieux which do. —David Mamet, Jafsie and John Henry: Essays, 1999
Certainly there are very few American milieus today in which having read the latest work of Joyce Carol Oates or Richard Ford is more valuable, as social currency, than having caught the latest John Travolta movie or knowing how to navigate the Web. —Jonathan Franzen, Harper's, April 1996
They're caught in their own hazy milieu—working, smoking, talking, drinking. —Gerri Hirshey, Rolling Stone, 12 Nov. 1992
young, innovative artists thrive in the freewheeling milieu that a big city offers

Recent Examples of milieu from the Web

In the greater DOE milieu, Dabbar is very well known, says Daniel Poneman, president and CEO of Centrus Energy Corp. in Bethesda, Maryland, who from 2009 to 2014 served as DOE’s deputy secretary of energy.

— adrian cho, Science | AAAS, "Nominee for Department of Energy’s undersecretary for science draws praise," 19 July 2017
After three years with Lauder, King realized the corporate world was not her milieu and instead decided to once again launch a boutique lipstick brand, this time under the name Lipstick Queen.

— christine whitney, The Cut, "The Beauty Entrepreneur Who Swears She Can Tell Your Personality by Your Lips," 10 July 2017
Women enjoy much more prominence in the milieu of low-budget independent movies, where the stories are more focused on ordinary people with real-world problems, but those movies usually attract small audiences.

— kyle smith, National Review, "If You Like Art, Don’t Take the Bechdel Test," 10 July 2017
And to that point, war-torn and traumatized places just like Mosul and Raqqa are exactly the kinds of milieus where militant groups like ISIS are born and bred.

— jonah shepp, Daily Intelligencer, "ISIS’s Caliphate Is Collapsing, But Don’t Celebrate Just Yet," 30 June 2017
Ahead of the annual Essence Festival (June 30-July 8), Billboard takes a tour of the trendy new locales in and around the Big Easy milieu. 1.

— nick williams, Billboard, "Why Bywater Is New Orleans' Hottest Neighborhood," 23 June 2017
A few years ago Shabaka Hutchings, a rising British tenor saxophonist, discovered a milieu of kindred spirits on South Africa’s vibrant jazz scene.

— New York Times, "Pop, Rock and Jazz in NYC This Week," 22 June 2017
In the current political milieu, Mari’s work has taken on a new importance, blurring preconceived paradigms of gender and sexuality and celebrating humanity in all its forms.

— christine whitney, The Cut, "The Japanese Photographer Subverting Gender Roles Through Uncensored Images," 12 June 2017
The Florida setting, which is always ripe for cheap laughs, comes off more cartoonish than contextual, and the overall violent milieu of the show is more of a drag than a believable backdrop.

— atlanta life, ajc, "‘Claws’ seems like missed opportunity," 9 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'milieu.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

milieu Entered English in the 1800s

The etymology of milieu comes down to "mi" and "lieu." English speakers learned the word (and borrowed both its spelling and meaning) from French. The modern French term comes from two much older French forms, mi, meaning "middle," and lieu, meaning "place." Like so many terms in the Romance languages, those Old French forms can ultimately be traced to Latin; "mi" is an offspring of the Latin medius(meaning "middle") and "lieu" is a derivative of "locus" (meaning "place"). English speakers have used "milieu" for the environment or setting of something since at least the mid-1800s, but other "lieu" descendants are much older. We've used both "lieu" itself (meaning "place" or "stead," as in "in lieu of") and "lieutenant" since the 14th century.

Origin and Etymology of milieu

French, from Old French, midst, from mi middle (from Latin medius) + lieu place, from Latin locus — more at mid, stall

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1854

See Words from the same year

Synonym Discussion of milieu

background, setting, environment, milieu, mise-en-scène mean the place, time, and circumstances in which something occurs. background often refers to the circumstances or events that precede a phenomenon or development. the shocking decision was part of the background of the riots setting suggests looking at real-life situations in literary or dramatic terms. a militant reformer who was born into an unlikely social setting environment applies to all the external factors that have a formative influence on one's physical, mental, or moral development. the kind of environment that produces juvenile delinquents milieu applies especially to the physical and social surroundings of a person or group of persons. an intellectual milieu conducive to artistic experimentation mise-en-scène strongly suggests the use of properties to achieve a particular atmosphere or theatrical effect. a gothic thriller with a carefully crafted mise-en-scène