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ambient - 7 dictionary results

am⋅bi⋅ent

  [am-bee-uhnt]
Use ambient in a Sentence
–adjective
1. of the surrounding area or environment: The tape recorder picked up too many ambient noises. The temperature in the display case was 20° lower than the ambient temperature.
2. completely surrounding; encompassing: the ambient air.
Origin:
1590–1600; (< MF) < L ambient- (s. of ambiēns, prp. of ambīre to go around), equiv. to amb- ambi- + -i- go + -ent- -ent
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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am·bi·ent   (ām'bē-ənt)   
adj.  Surrounding; encircling: ambient sound; ambient air.

[Latin ambiēns, ambient-, present participle of ambīre, to surround : amb-, ambi-, around; see ambi- + īre, to go; see ei- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Ambient

Am"bi*ent\, a. [L. ambiens, p. pr. of ambire to go around; amb- + ire to go.] Encompassing on all sides; circumfused; investing. "Ambient air." --Milton. "Ambient clouds." --Pope.

Ambient

Am"bi*ent\, n. Something that surrounds or invests; as, air . . . being a perpetual ambient. --Sir H. Wotton.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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ambient 
1596, "surrounding, encircling," from L. ambientem (nom. ambiens), prp. of ambire "to go around," from amb- "around" (see ambi-) + ire "go." The ground sense of "revolving" led to "encircling, lying all around." Ambiance as a term in art, meaning "atmospheric effect of an arrangement," is an 1889 borrowing from Fr.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: am·bi·ent
Pronunciation: 'am-bE-&nt
Function: adjective
: surrounding on all sides ambient environment><ambient air pollution>
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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ambient am·bi·ent (ām'bē-ənt)
adj.
Surrounding; encircling.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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