n.
- the general weather conditions prevailing in an area over a long period.
- a prevailing trend or public attitude:
the current economic climate.
Derivative
- climatic adj.
- climatical adj.
- climatically adv.
Etymology
ME (orig. denoting a zone of the earth between two lines of latitude, later a region considered with ref. to its atmospheric conditions): from OFr. climat or late L. clima, climat-, from Gk klima ‘slope, zone’.