Climate

How to spell climate

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce climate

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does climate mean?

1. nounThe typical weather conditions of a region averaged over a long period.
2. nounThe prevailing mood, attitude, or set of conditions in a place or situation.

Climate in a sentence

• The dry climate of the region makes irrigation essential for farming.

• The current economic climate has made many firms cautious about hiring.

• Scientists track changes in the global climate over many decades.

• A climate of fear discouraged staff from raising concerns.

Where does climate come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This word traces back to the Greek klima, which literally meant a 'slope' or 'inclination', from the verb klinein, 'to lean' or 'to slope'. Greek geographers used klima for a region of the earth defined by the angle at which the sun's rays struck it, since they understood that the tilt of the sun governed the weather of a place. The word passed into Latin as clima and then into English through Old French climat during the 1300s, at first meaning a belt or zone of the earth's surface. Over time the meaning narrowed from the zone itself to the typical weather conditions found there, the sense most familiar today. The same klinein root also gives us 'incline', 'recline', and 'lean', all sharing the idea of a slope or tilt, which is a neat reminder that the spelling keeps the 'i' before the 'm'.

How the word is built

• climat- (from Greek klima: region, zone, slope of the earth)
• -e (English noun ending)