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 study ambient pressure, air, or temperature. 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. John Milton used it in Paradise Lost, and Alexander Pope wrote of a mountain "whose tow'ring summit ambient clouds conceal'd." Both poets and scientists who use ambient owe a debt to the Latin verb ambire, meaning "to go around," the grandparent of our English word.

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

Important political events like elections, terrorism and war, however, thrust this ambient noise to the forefront, even at work. —Gabriella Rosen Kellerman, Forbes, 22 Oct. 2024

An auto cinema mode is included too, which adjusts for different wall colors, adapts to ambient lighting and employs digital zoom to keep visuals sharp over various distances. —Paul Ridden, New Atlas, 17 Oct. 2024

Noun

Modern NVGs collect ambient and infrared light which is passed through a photocathode and turned into electrons. —New Atlas, 20 Sep. 2024

Process heat can be drawn from the firebricks on demand by passing ambient or recycled air through channels in the bricks to produce low-to-high temperature air or obtained from the emission of infrared radiation directly from the red-hot bricks. —New Atlas, 5 Aug. 2024

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

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