climate

Pluralclimates

Formsclimates, climating, climated

1. 1
   weather patternnouncountable or uncountable

   The long-term pattern of weather and atmospheric conditions in an area, usually summarized statistically over a period of about thirty years.

   Weather is a single day's mood; climate is the long-running temperament of a place.

   Coastal regions often have a milder climate than areas farther inland.

   Scientists track how the global climate has shifted over the past century.

   UsageNot the same as weather, which is day to day. For places, warmer climates; for long-term shifts, climate change.

2. 2
   general moodnounfigurativelyusually singular

   The general context or atmosphere surrounding a particular political, moral, or social situation.

   Just as the atmosphere of a room shapes how guests behave, a social climate shapes how a whole community acts.

   The economic climate discouraged investors from taking new risks.

   Reformers struggled against the moral climate of their time.

   UsageUsually with an adjective (the political climate, the economic climate) or in in the current climate.

   Similaratmosphere, environment, mood, situation

   Note

   Weather becomes a metaphor here for the mood around politics, business or morals. The weather sense also shapes the verbs: Matt Bai writes of a climate that might grow more adversarial, much as the weather sense can grow warmer.

3. 3
   latitude bandnounobsoletecountable

   A region of the earth, originally one of the bands lying between two parallels of latitude.

   Note

   The meaning nearest the Greek "latitude" behind the weather sense treats a climate as a band of the globe marked off by parallels. It is obsolete, so today it belongs in writing about older geography and maps. There, a modern reader may take "the next climate" to mean a change of weather. When paraphrasing, zone or latitude band says the same thing without that ambiguity. Source

   Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • Climate ultimately derives from Greek klíma, meaning latitude, literally inclination. en.wiktionary.org
   • The geographical sense denotes a band between parallels of latitude. en.wiktionary.org

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