milieu

A person's social environment; the physical or social setting in which something occurs.

• (no common derivatives)

• social milieu
• cultural milieu
• artistic milieu
• working-class milieu

1. 1.She thrived in the creative milieu of 1920s Paris, surrounded by writers and painters. (social environment)
2. 2.The novel vividly recreates the milieu of Victorian England's industrial north. (cultural setting)

• environment/ɪnˈvaɪrənmənt/— surroundings
• setting/ˈsɛtɪŋ/— place/context
• context/ˈkɒntɛkst/— circumstances

from French "milieu" — mi (middle) + lieu (place) — the middle of a place, one's surroundings