milieu

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The Word of the Day for March 17 is:

milieu   \meel-YUR\   noun
     : the physical or social setting in which something occurs or develops : 
environment

Example sentence:
     The quiet suburban neighborhood was within walking distance of the 
elementary school and provided the perfect milieu for raising a family.

Did you know?
     The etymology of "milieu" comes down to "mi" and "lieu." English speakers 
learned the word (and borrowed both its spelling and meaning) from French. The 
modern French term comes from two much older French forms, "mi," meaning 
"middle," and "lieu," meaning "place." Like so many terms in the Romance 
languages, those Old French forms can ultimately be traced to Latin; "mi" is an 
offspring of the Latin "medius" (meaning "middle") and "lieu" is a derivative 
of "locus" (meaning "place"). English speakers have used "milieu" for the 
environment or setting of something since at least the mid-
1800s, but other "lieu" descendants are much older. We've used
both "lieu" itself (meaning "place" or "stead," as in "in lieu
of") and "lieutenant" since the 14th century.





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