Etymograph

English

atmosphere

Atmosphere comes from French atmosphère, from New Latin atmosphaera, from Ancient Greek ἀτμός ‘steam’ + σφαῖρα ‘sphere’.

  1. New Latinc. 1500–1900atmosphaera1
  2. Frenchc. 1600–presentatmosphère1
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1828atmosphere1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English atmosphere
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1828, John Neal, Portland: “We may smile now to hear witchcraft spoken seriously…”.

Lineage

  1. New Latinc. 1500–1900atmosphaeraWiktionary, English atmosphere
  2. Frenchc. 1600–presentatmosphèreWiktionary, English atmosphere
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1828atmosphereWiktionary, English atmosphere. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1828, John Neal, Portland: “We may smile now to hear witchcraft spoken seriously…”

A compound of ἀτμός ‘steam’ + σφαῖρα ‘sphere’

Proto-Indo-European *h₂weh₁- ‘to blow’

Ancient Greek ἀτμός ‘steam’

Proto-Indo-European *sperH- ‘to kick, rebound, move convulsively’

Ancient Greek σφαῖρα ‘sphere’

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Today it means

noun The gases surrounding the Earth or any astronomical body.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “atmosphere”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / New Latin atmosphaera / atmosphere