air conditioning

American  

[air kuhn-dish-uh-ning] / ˈɛər kənˈdɪʃ ə nɪŋ /

noun

1. a system or process for controlling the temperature, humidity, and sometimes the purity of the air in an interior, as of an office, theater, laboratory, or house, especially one capable of cooling.

2. an air-conditioning system or unit.

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air conditioning British  

noun

1. a system or process for controlling the temperature and sometimes the humidity and purity of the air in a house, etc

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Other Word Forms

• air conditioner
  noun
• air-conditioning
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of air conditioning

First recorded in 1905–10

Example Sentences

Air conditioning removed climate as a constraint on settlement; Phoenix, Houston and Miami owe much of their current scale because of it.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 24, 2026

Air conditioning cannot cool below 25 degrees in Bangladesh and 26 degrees in Thailand.

From BBC • Mar. 20, 2026

Air conditioning and air filtration don’t just protect students’ health — they also improve learning.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 11, 2023

Air conditioning is so vital in the desert that cities such as Phoenix, Tempe and Scottsdale have adopted cooling ordinances, which require landlords to keep temperatures in rental homes below a certain threshold.

From Seattle Times • Jul. 18, 2023

Air conditioning in the bus cooled us comfortably.

From "Black Like Me" by John Howard Griffin