ambience

[am-bee-uh ns; French ahn-byahns]

See more synonyms for ambience on Thesaurus.com

noun, plural am·bi·enc·es

[am-bee-uh n-siz; French ahn-byahns] /ˈæm bi ən sɪz; French ɑ̃ˈbyɑ̃s/.

ambiance.

Origin of ambience

First recorded in 1885–90

ambiance

or am·bi·ence

[am-bee-uh ns; French ahn-byahns]

noun, plural am·bi·anc·es

[am-bee-uh n-siz; French ahn-byahns] /ˈæm bi ən sɪz; French ɑ̃ˈbyɑ̃s/.

the mood, character, quality, tone, atmosphere, etc., particularly of an environment or milieu: The restaurant had a delightful ambiance.
that which surrounds or encompasses; environment.

Origin of ambiance

< French, equivalent to ambi(ant) surrounding (Middle French, also ambient < Latin; see ambient) + -ance -ance

Synonyms for ambiance

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1. See environment.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for ambience

surroundings, atmosphere, climate, medium, ambient

Examples from the Web for ambience

Contemporary Examples of ambience

This week, they launched a review section that will allow users to rate dispensaries on things like “quality” and “ambience.”
Colorado Weed Dispensaries Celebrate ‘Green Friday’
Abby Haglage
November 28, 2014
The food here also is delicious and imaginative, but the ambience is 180-degrees different.
Holy Molé: Tucson’s Mexican Food with a Kick
Jane & Michael Stern
June 29, 2014
The ambience at the FBI was formal, no nonsense, and strictly business.
J. Edgar Hoover Unmasked
Sandra McElwaine
November 7, 2011
The décor is clean and simple and the ambience is bustling and laid back at the same time.
Fresh Picks
Laurent Tourondel
November 4, 2010
Her collection, which showcased on Fashion Week's opening night, was titled “Ambience—The Land, The Woman, and her Man.”
Pakistan's Daring Fashion Week
Anam Mansuri
April 11, 2010

Historical Examples of ambience

Page 39 word "lambence" changed to "ambience" (no more than a faint ambience) meaning a faint light.
She Knew He Was Coming
Kris Neville

British Dictionary definitions for ambience

ambience

ambiance

noun

the atmosphere of a place

Word Origin for ambience

C19: from French ambiance, from ambiant surrounding; see ambient

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for ambience

1797, from French ambiance (see ambient). Cf. ambiance.

ambiance

1923, a reborrowing of the French form of ambience, used in art writing as a term meaning "atmospheric effect of an arrangement" (see ambient).