Milieu

Origins

French milieu (12th cent. in Old French as miliu in sense ‘the middle’; 1639 in Descartes of a physical environment, 1809 in zoological use, 1842 in sense ‘social environment’

Definitions

• 1. An environment; surroundings, esp. social surroundings. Cf. MEDIUM n. 5b.

• 2. A group of people with a shared (cultural) outlook; a social class or set.