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milieu

- 7 dictionary results

mi⋅lieu

[mil-yoo, meel-; Fr. mee-lyœ]
–noun, plural -lieus, French. -lieux [-lyœ] .
surroundings, esp. of a social or cultural nature: a snobbish milieu.

Origin:
1795–1805; < F, equiv. to mi (< L medius middle; see medium ) + lieu lieu


background, sphere, setting. See environment.
mi·lieu   (mĭl-yŏŏ', mē-lyɶ')   
n.   pl. mi·lieus or mi·lieux (-lyɶ')
An environment or a setting.

[French, from Old French, center : mi, middle (from Latin medius; see medhyo- in Indo-European roots) + lieu, place (from Latin locus).]

Milieu

Mi`lieu"\, n. [F., fr. mi middle (L. medius) + lieu place. See Demi-, Lieu.] Environment.

The intellectual and moral milieu created by multitudes of self-centered, cultivated personalities. --J. A. Symonds.

It is one of the great outstanding facts of his progressive relation to the elements of his social milieu. --J. M. Baldwin.
Language Translation for : milieu
Spanish: círculo,
German: der Kreis,
Japanese: 仲間

milieu 
"surroundings," 1877, from Fr., "middle, medium, mean," lit. "middle place," from mi "middle" + lieu "place" (see lieu).

Main Entry: mi·lieu
Pronunciation: mEl-'y&(r), -'yü; 'mEl-"yü, mE-ly[OE]
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural milieus or mi·lieux /-'y&(r)(z), -'yüz; -"yü(z), -ly[OE](z)/
: ENVIRONMENT

milieu mi·lieu (mĭl-y&oobreve;', mēl-yɶ')
n. pl. mi·lieus or mi·lieux (-lyɶ')

  1. The totality of one's surroundings; an environment.
  2. The social setting of a mental patient.

milieu

according to the French critic Hippolyte Taine, the three principal motives or conditioning factors behind any work of art. Taine sought to establish a scientific approach to literature through the investigation of what created the individual who created the work of art.

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