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milieu

American  
[mil-yoo, meel-, mee-lyœ] / mɪlˈyʊ, mil-, miˈlyœ /

noun

plural

milieus,

plural

milieux

  1. surroundings, especially of a social or cultural nature.

    a snobbish milieu.
    Synonyms:
    setting, sphere, background
milieu British  
/ miljø, ˈmiːljɜː /

noun

  1. surroundings, location, or setting

"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

Related Words

See environment.

Etymology

Origin of milieu

First recorded in 1795–1805; from French, equivalent to mi (from Latin medius “middle”; medium ) + lieu lieu

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.