milieu

noun mi·lieu \ mēl-ˈyər , -ˈyə , -ˈyü , -ˈyœ ; ˈmēl-ˌyü \

Definition of milieu

plural milieus or milieux play \-ˈyə(r)(z), -ˈyüz, -ˈyœ(z); -ˌyü(z)\

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

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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

The recreation of Northern working men’s clubs, with their tawdry glittery curtains and murkily patterned carpets awash in cheap beer, are lovingly recreated and the filmmakers clearly have affection for the spirit and brio of this milieu.

— leslie felperin, The Hollywood Reporter, "‘Funny Cow’: Film Review | London 2017," 23 Oct. 2017
Spirits don’t need houses to haunt; ships, wharves and beaches will do just as well, and those will be among the spooky milieus investigated in this Staten Island event, which comprises five institutions on the harbor campus.

— laurel graeber, New York Times, "Events for Children in NYC This Week," 26 Oct. 2017
There are some funny bits that poke at the book’s generally cozy milieu.

— polly rosenwaike, San Francisco Chronicle, "Short stories by Daniel Alarcón, Tom Hanks, Carmen Maria Machado," 3 Nov. 2017
And if most of the people who visit this show are destined to be of a privileged milieu, then the NPHM misses an opportunity to demonstrate how they're entangled in what happened.

— maya dukmasova, Chicago Reader, "Arts / Housing / History National Public Housing Museum’s new show informs, memorializes, but doesn’t point fingers," 24 Oct. 2017
From this perspective, the goal of redemption is to return to the Eden milieu where God is acknowledged by all as the ultimate decider of good and evil.

— rabbi avi weiss, Jewish Journal, "Weiss: The message of the Garden of Eden," 9 Oct. 2017
In many way The Tribes of Palos Verdes is standard YA fare: poisonous suburban milieu, troubled family dynamics and a misfit protagonist, intelligent and resilient.

— sheri linden, The Hollywood Reporter, "'The Tribes of Palos Verdes': Film Review | Hamptons 2017," 8 Oct. 2017
Some complaints from our minority of Trump supporters who now feel marginalized and ostracized in our campus milieu and post election activity.

— ed white, Detroit Free Press, "U-M President Mark Schlissel's e-mails reveal he's no fan of Trump," 5 Oct. 2017
In other words, Coates hasn’t been and isn’t alone in interrogating the American milieu shrewdly, passionately.

— walton muyumba, baltimoresun.com, "Baltimore native Ta-Nehisi Coates blazes singular intellectual path in 'We Were Eight Years in Power'," 3 Oct. 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

milieu Synonyms

Synonyms

ambient, atmosphere, climate, clime, context, environment, environs, medium, setting, surround, surroundings, terrain;

Related Words

location, place, position, space;

backdrop, background;

element;

situation, status;

geography, habitat;

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.