troposphere

noun

tro·​po·​sphere ˈtrō-pə-ˌsfir  ˈträ- 

: the lowest densest part of the earth's atmosphere in which most weather changes occur and temperature generally decreases rapidly with altitude and which extends from the earth's surface to the bottom of the stratosphere at about 7 miles (11 kilometers) high

tropospheric

ˌtrō-pə-ˈsfir-ik 

ˌträ-

-ˈsfer-

adjective

Examples of troposphere in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The troposphere, which extends up about 6 miles from the Earth's surface, is the first layer of the atmosphere. —Janet Loehrke, USA TODAY, 22 Jan. 2025

The balloons also reach the lower part of the stratosphere, the layer above the troposphere. —Tereza Pultarova, Space.com, 21 Jan. 2025

Zoom out: The polar vortex in the stratosphere is altering the jet stream one atmospheric layer down, in the troposphere. —Andrew Freedman, Axios, 20 Jan. 2025

What is natural, after all, about being hurtled through the troposphere in a pressurized metal tube burning petroleum distillates refined from dinosaur debris? —Ian Bogost, The Atlantic, 26 Aug. 2024

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French troposphère, from tropo- tropo- (in sense "change," as the troposphere is where weather changes take place) + -sphère -sphere

Note: The term was introduced, along with stratosphère stratosphere, by the French meteorologist Léon Tesserenc de Bort (1855-1913). Tesserenc de Bort apparently first used them in a paper read to a German meteorological society in Hamburg on September 30, 1908 ("La division de l'atmosphère en troposphère et stratosphère d'après les résultats de l'exploration de la haute atmosphère"). The paper was not subsequently published but is briefly summarized by C. Kassner in "Bericht über die elfte allgemeine Versammlung und Feier des 25-jährigen Bestehens der Deutschen Meteorologischen Gesellschaft zu Hamburg am 28. bis 30. September 1908," Meteorologische Zeitschrift, Band 26, Heft 1 (Januar, 1909), p. 6.

First Known Use

1908, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

troposphere

noun

tro·​po·​sphere ˈtrōp-ə-ˌsfi(ə)r  ˈträp- 

: the portion of the atmosphere which extends from the earth's surface to the bottom of the stratosphere and in which temperature generally decreases rapidly with altitude

tropospheric

ˌtrōp-ə-ˈsfi(ə)r-ik 

ˌträp-

-ˈsfer-

adjective