clime

IPA/klaɪm/
IPA/klaɪm/

clime — noun

  • climesingular
  • climesplural

1. an area or country thought of in terms of the kind of weather it usually has, of

1.nounC2
Definition

an area or country thought of in terms of the kind of weather it usually has, often one far away from where the speaker lives.

Example

Every winter, Zola's grandparents fly south to warmer climes in Portugal.

plural collocation: warmer climes

Many British birds head for sunnier climes in Africa before the first frost.

collocation: sunnier climes + verb 'head for'

Common collocations
  • warmer climes
  • sunnier climes
  • colder climes
  • foreign climes
  • distant climes
  • harsher climes
  • northern clime
  • desert clime
Synonyms
  • climate

    everyday word; refers to the weather pattern itself, not the region

  • region

    general geographic term; not tied to weather

  • latitudes

    literary; often 'tropical/northern latitudes' — similar feel to 'climes'

Grammar Patterns

warmer/colder/sunnier + climes

foreign/distant + climes

Usage Note

Almost always plural, paired with a weather adjective (warmer, sunnier, colder, harsher, foreign, distant). The phrase 'warmer climes' is a near-fixed expression used for places people travel to escape winter. Sounds formal or literary; in everyday speech most speakers say 'climate' or just name the place.

Common Mistakes

I want to live in a hot clime.
I want to live in a hot climate.
'clime' refers to the whole region, not the weather itself; for the weather pattern, use 'climate'.
The clime of Singapore is humid.
The climate of Singapore is humid.
describing weather conditions of one named place takes 'climate'; 'clime' is for the place itself, often in the plural.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

These words all point to where the weather sits, but they sit at very different registers. 'Climate' is the everyday word and means the weather pattern itself — the rain, heat, and seasons of a place. 'Clime' is much rarer and more literary; it refers to the place rather than the weather, and almost always appears in the plural ('warmer climes', 'foreign climes'), often when describing travel away from home. 'Region' is the neutral geographic term and carries no weather meaning until you add an adjective ('tropical region'). 'Latitudes' is also literary and often paired with weather words ('northern latitudes', 'tropical latitudes'), much like 'climes'. Compare: 'The climate is harsh.' (describes the weather) vs. 'They retired to warmer climes.' (describes the place they moved to).

clime ↗climate ↗region ↗latitudes ↗

Common collocations

Phrases

  • head for warmer climes
  • escape to sunnier climes
  • in foreign climes
  • in distant climes

Prepositions

  • in (warmer) climes
  • to (sunnier) climes
  • for (foreign) climes

Etymology

GreekLatinOld FrenchEnglish

Borrowed into English in the late 14th century from Old French 'climat' and Late Latin 'clima' (genitive 'climatis'), meaning a slope or zone of the earth. The Latin term came from Greek 'klima' — literally an inclination, used by ancient geographers for the slant of the earth between the equator and the poles, which they linked to the weather of each zone. Modern English split the word into two forms: 'climate' for the weather pattern itself, and 'clime' for the place, kept alive mainly in poetry and travel writing.