English
ambiance
Ambiance comes from French ambiant ‘ambient’, from Latin ambiēns ‘going around, passing around, skirting’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ey- ‘to go’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁ey-‘to go’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁éyti‘to go, to be going’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*ejōreconstructed
- Proto-Italic, derivedc. 1500–700 BCE*eō‘to go’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEeō‘go’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEambiō‘go around’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEambiēnsas ambientem‘going around, passing around, skirting’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentambiant‘ambient’
- French, derivedc. 1600–presentambiance
- Englishearliest quotation 1979same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁ey-‘to go’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁éyti‘to go, to be going’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*ejōreconstructed
- Proto-Italic, derivedc. 1500–700 BCE*eō‘to go’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEeō‘go’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEambiō‘go around’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEambiēnsas ambientem‘going around, passing around, skirting’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentambiant‘ambient’
- French, derivedc. 1600–presentambiance
- Englishearliest quotation 1979same form
Earliest quotation: 1979, Roger L. Winters, Gay Politics: “The pressures […] on a post-pubescent youngster, still half-child-half-man/woman,…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₁ey- ‘to go’
through Proto-Indo-European *h₁éyti ‘to go, to be going’
ion, isthmus, cation, anionic, 19 more
through Proto-Italic *eō ‘to go’
initiative, initiate, initiation, initiator, 4 more
through Latin eō ‘go’
issue, initial, exit, transition, obituary, transient, eyre, sedition, trance, seditious, transitive, transitory, praetor, obit, 25 more
through Latin ambiō ‘go around’
ambitious, ambition, ambit, 2 more
through Latin ambiēns ‘going around, passing around, skirting’
Today it means
noun A particular mood or atmosphere of an environment or surrounding influence.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₁ey- / ambiance