Word of the Day for Wednesday February 8, 2006 milieu \meel-YUH; meel-YOO\, noun; plural milieus or milieux \-(z)\: Environment; setting. These were agricultural areas, populated with prosperous farming families and rural artisans -- a completely different milieu from the Monferrands', which was more closed, more cultured, but less affluent. --Antoine de Baecque and Serge Toubiana, [1]Truffaut Half a century later, Zacarías still remembers... how they all played together without distinctions or hierarchy, and how easily Ernesto related to people from different social and cultural milieux. --Jorge G. Castaneda, [2]Compañero They write about their milieux, about where they live and work, and it can be fabulous. --Leslie Schenk, "Celebrating Mavis Gallant," [3]World Literature Today, Winter 1998 _________________________________________________________ Milieu is from French, from Old French, from mi, "middle" (from Latin medius) + lieu, "place" (from Latin locus). Synonyms: environment, scene, setting, sphere, surroundings. [4]Find more at Thesaurus.com. References 1. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0375400893/ref%3Dnosim/lexico 2. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0679759409/ref%3Dnosim/lexico 3. http://www.ou.edu/worldlit/ 4. http://thesaurus.reference.com/search?q=milieu Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=9&q=milieu