noun · 3 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
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CMU ARPABET:AY2 AA1 N AO0 S F IY2 R
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
The part of the Earth's atmosphere beginning at an altitude of about 50 kilometers (31 miles) and extending outward 500 kilometers (310 miles) or more.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
The similar region of the atmosphere of another planet.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
the outer region of the Earth's atmosphere; contains a high concentration of free electrons
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: region, part
History
Etymology
From iono- + -sphere.
Across languages
Translations
49 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Arabic:
أَيْونْوسْفِير
(ʔayōnosfīr)
— part of Earth's atmosphere
Basque:
ionosfera
— part of Earth's atmosphere
Bulgarian:
йоносфе́ра
(jonosféra)
— part of Earth's atmosphere
Catalan:
ionosfera
— part of Earth's atmosphere
Chinese Mandarin:
電離層 /电离层
(diànlícéng)
— part of Earth's atmosphere
Czech:
ionosféra
— part of Earth's atmosphere
Danish:
ionosfære
— part of Earth's atmosphere
Dutch:
ionosfeer
— part of Earth's atmosphere
Esperanto:
jonosfero
— part of Earth's atmosphere
Estonian:
ionosfäär
— part of Earth's atmosphere
Faroese:
háhválv
— part of Earth's atmosphere
Faroese:
jónhav
— part of Earth's atmosphere
Finnish:
ionosfääri
— part of Earth's atmosphere
French:
ionosphère
— part of Earth's atmosphere
Galician:
ionosfera
— part of Earth's atmosphere
Georgian:
იონოსფერო
(ionospero)
— part of Earth's atmosphere
German:
Ionosphäre
— part of Earth's atmosphere
Greek:
ιονόσφαιρα
(ionósfaira)
— part of Earth's atmosphere
Hebrew:
יונוספירה
(yonosfera)
— part of Earth's atmosphere
Hungarian:
ionoszféra
— part of Earth's atmosphere
Indonesian:
ionosfer
— part of Earth's atmosphere
Irish:
ianaisféar
— part of Earth's atmosphere
Italian:
ionosfera
— part of Earth's atmosphere
Japanese:
電離層
(denrisō)
— part of Earth's atmosphere
Korean:
전리층
(jeollicheung)
— part of Earth's atmosphere
Latvian:
jonosfēra
— part of Earth's atmosphere
Lithuanian:
jonosfera
— part of Earth's atmosphere
Macedonian:
јоносфе́ра
(jonosféra)
— part of Earth's atmosphere
Norwegian Bokmål:
ionosfære
— part of Earth's atmosphere
Norwegian Nynorsk:
ionosfære
— part of Earth's atmosphere
Persian:
یونسپهر
— part of Earth's atmosphere
Persian:
یونوسفر
— part of Earth's atmosphere
Polish:
jonosfera
— part of Earth's atmosphere
Portuguese:
ionosfera
— part of Earth's atmosphere
Romanian:
ionosferă
— part of Earth's atmosphere
Russian:
ионосфе́ра
(ionosféra)
— part of Earth's atmosphere
Serbo-Croatian:
ионосфера
— part of Earth's atmosphere
Serbo-Croatian:
ionosfera
— part of Earth's atmosphere
