ambient

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 1, 2015 is: ambient • \AM-bee-unt\  • adjective : existing or present on all sides : encompassing 2 of electronic music : quiet and relaxing with melodies that repeat many times Examples: The chemicals must be kept at an ambient temperature of 70 degrees. "Liz Harris summons a wounded sound that suggests that ambient music, despite its intangibility, should be memorable." - The Washington Post, December 28, 2014 Did you know? Biologists explore the effects of ambient light on plants; acoustics experts try to control ambient sound; and meteorologists study ambient pressure, air, or temperature. All this can make ambient seem like a technical term, but when it first saw light of day, that all-encompassing adjective was as likely to be used in poetry as in science. John Milton used it in Paradise Lost, and Alexander Pope wrote of a mountain "whose tow'ring summit ambient clouds conceal'd." Both poets and scientists who use ambient owe a debt to the Latin verb ambire, meaning "to go around," the grandparent of our English word. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.