Clime

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /klaɪm/

Definitions

1. A region or area considered in terms of its atmospheric conditions and general climate characteristics
2. a geographical region characterized by its distinctive weather patterns and environmental conditions
3. a location or territory defined by its particular atmospheric qualities and climatic features

Etymology: The most surprising thing about "clime" is that it began as a precise geometric idea. Ancient Greek geographers used "klima" (κλίμα) for a band of latitude on the globe, and the word literally meant "inclination," a slope. The sense came from the angle of the sun's rays: the farther a place lay from the equator, the more steeply the sun struck the ground, so each band of latitude was marked by how much the earth "sloped" toward the sun. The Greek verb behind it, "klinein" (κλίνειν), meant "to slope" or "to incline," the same root that gives us words like "recline." The Romans borrowed the term as "clima" for these latitude zones, and it passed into English from that Latin form. Over time the meaning shifted from a mathematical strip of the globe to the character of a place itself: its temperature, rainfall and seasons. English speakers came to use "clime" for a whole region defined by its weather and surroundings, so a word once measuring the angle of the sun now describes the conditions of a land.

Synonyms: climate, region, zone, environment, locale

Antonyms: desert, barren, wilderness, arid land, polar region