Phrase guide

greenhouse effect

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The process by which a planet is heated by solar radiation which is retained by its atmosphere.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Qualifier: climate change

Topics: climatology, natural-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: hothouse effect

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

warming that results when solar radiation is trapped by the atmosphere; caused by atmospheric gases that allow sunshine to pass through but absorb heat that is radiated back from the warmed surface of the earth

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: greenhouse warming

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: atmospheric phenomenon

History

Etymology

First attested in 1901 by Swedish meteorologist Nils Gustaf Ekholm.

Across languages

Translations

52 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: kweekhuiseffek — process by which a planet is warmed by its atmosphere
  • Arabic: اَلاِحْتِبَاس اَلْحَرَارِيّ (al-iḥtibās al-ḥarāriyy) — process by which a planet is warmed by its atmosphere
  • Asturian: efeutu ivernaderu — process by which a planet is warmed by its atmosphere
  • Basque: berotegi-efektu — process by which a planet is warmed by its atmosphere
  • Belarusian: парніко́вы эфе́кт (parnikóvy efjékt) — process by which a planet is warmed by its atmosphere
  • Bulgarian: парников ефект (parnikov efekt) — process by which a planet is warmed by its atmosphere
  • Catalan: efecte hivernacle — process by which a planet is warmed by its atmosphere
  • Chinese Cantonese: 溫室效應 /温室效应 (wan1 sat1 haau6 jing3) — process by which a planet is warmed by its atmosphere
  • Chinese Mandarin: 溫室效應 /温室效应 (wēnshì xiàoyìng) — process by which a planet is warmed by its atmosphere
  • Czech: skleníkový efekt — process by which a planet is warmed by its atmosphere
  • Danish: drivhuseffekt — process by which a planet is warmed by its atmosphere
  • Dutch: broeikaseffect — process by which a planet is warmed by its atmosphere
  • Estonian: kasvuhooneefekt — process by which a planet is warmed by its atmosphere
  • Finnish: kasvihuoneilmiö — process by which a planet is warmed by its atmosphere
  • French: effet de serre — process by which a planet is warmed by its atmosphere
  • Galician: efecto invernadoiro — process by which a planet is warmed by its atmosphere
  • Georgian: სათბურის ეფექტი (satburis epekṭi) — process by which a planet is warmed by its atmosphere
  • German: Treibhauseffekt — process by which a planet is warmed by its atmosphere
  • Greek: φαινόμενο του θερμοκηπίου (fainómeno tou thermokipíou) — process by which a planet is warmed by its atmosphere
  • Hebrew: אֵפֵקְט הַחֲמָמָה (efékt ha-khamamá) — process by which a planet is warmed by its atmosphere
  • Hungarian: üvegházhatás — process by which a planet is warmed by its atmosphere
  • Icelandic: gróðurhúsaáhrif — process by which a planet is warmed by its atmosphere
  • Indonesian: efek rumah kaca — process by which a planet is warmed by its atmosphere
  • Italian: effetto serra — process by which a planet is warmed by its atmosphere
  • Japanese: 温室効果 (onshitsu-kōka) — process by which a planet is warmed by its atmosphere
  • Kazakh: көшетхана әсері (köşetxana äserı) — process by which a planet is warmed by its atmosphere
  • Korean: 온실효과 (onsilhyogwa) — process by which a planet is warmed by its atmosphere
  • Latvian: siltumnīcas efekts — process by which a planet is warmed by its atmosphere
  • Luxembourgish: Zäreneffekt — process by which a planet is warmed by its atmosphere
  • Malayalam: ഹരിതഗൃഹപ്രഭാവം (haritagr̥haprabhāvaṁ) — process by which a planet is warmed by its atmosphere
  • Māori: pānga kati kōtuhi — process by which a planet is warmed by its atmosphere
  • Norwegian Bokmål: drivhuseffekt — process by which a planet is warmed by its atmosphere
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: drivhuseffekt — process by which a planet is warmed by its atmosphere
  • Persian: اثر گلخانهای — process by which a planet is warmed by its atmosphere
  • Polish: efekt cieplarniany — process by which a planet is warmed by its atmosphere
  • Portuguese: efeito de estufa — process by which a planet is warmed by its atmosphere
  • Portuguese: efeito estufa — process by which a planet is warmed by its atmosphere
  • Romanian: efect de seră — process by which a planet is warmed by its atmosphere
  • Russian: парнико́вый эффе́кт (parnikóvyj effékt) — process by which a planet is warmed by its atmosphere
  • Scottish Gaelic: buaidh an taigh-ghlainne — process by which a planet is warmed by its atmosphere
  • Slovak: skleníkový efekt — process by which a planet is warmed by its atmosphere
  • Spanish: efecto invernadero — process by which a planet is warmed by its atmosphere
  • Swedish: växthuseffekt — process by which a planet is warmed by its atmosphere
  • Tamil: பைங்குடில் விளைவு (paiṅkuṭil viḷaivu) — process by which a planet is warmed by its atmosphere
  • Thai: ภาวะเรือนกระจก — process by which a planet is warmed by its atmosphere
  • Thai: ปรากฏการณ์เรือนกระจก — process by which a planet is warmed by its atmosphere
  • Turkish: sera etkisi — process by which a planet is warmed by its atmosphere
  • Ukrainian: парнико́вий ефе́кт (parnykóvyj efékt) — process by which a planet is warmed by its atmosphere
  • Urdu: گرم خانہ اثر (garm-xāna asar) — process by which a planet is warmed by its atmosphere
  • Vietnamese: hiệu ứng nhà kính — process by which a planet is warmed by its atmosphere
  • Vietnamese: hiệu ứng nhà kiếng — process by which a planet is warmed by its atmosphere
  • Welsh: effaith tŷ gwydr — process by which a planet is warmed by its atmosphere