ensemble
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.a group of musicians, actors, or dancers who perform together.
n.a group of musicians, actors, or dancers who perform together as a unit rather than as soloists.
Simple“The jazz ensemble played at the local club every Thursday night.”
In context“The chamber ensemble received a standing ovation for their intricate interpretation of the modern string quartet.”
UsageOften used as a collective noun; can take a singular or plural verb in British English.
- 02 C1 Advanced
n.a set of clothes that are worn together because they match or look good.
n.a complete outfit or costume, especially one where the components are carefully coordinated.
Simple“She wore an elegant silk ensemble to the wedding.”
In context“The designer's spring collection featured a striking ensemble of linen trousers and a matching structured blazer.”
Teacher's tipIn fashion contexts, this word sounds more sophisticated and formal than 'outfit'.
- 03 C1 Advanced
n.a group of different parts that work together to make one complete thing.
n.a group of separate elements that contribute to a coordinated whole.
Simple“The old buildings and the new park create a beautiful ensemble.”
In context“The architect viewed the city square as a single ensemble rather than a collection of individual structures.”
- 04 C2 Proficiency
n.a large collection of possible states of a system used in science.
n.an idealisation consisting of a large number of virtual copies of a system, considered all at once.
Simple“The scientist used a grand canonical ensemble to model the gas particles.”
In context“In statistical mechanics, the properties of the system are determined by averaging over the entire ensemble of possible microstates.”
- 05 C2 Proficiency
n.a way for computers to learn by combining many different guesses to get a better answer.
n.a supervised learning algorithm that combines multiple hypotheses to improve predictive performance.
Simple“The ensemble model was much more accurate than any single algorithm.”
In context“By using an ensemble of decision trees, the researchers significantly reduced the variance of their predictions.”
- 06 C2 Proficiency
v.to put things together so they work as one group.
v.to assemble or coordinate separate parts into a unified whole.
Simple“The software helps to ensemble different data sets for analysis.”
In context“The project aims to ensemble various climate models to produce a more reliable long-term forecast.”
SynonymsAntonyms
“The ensemble in the opener – Liszt’s Mephisto Waltz No 1 – took a moment to cohere but then boasted conspiratorial woodwind and quiet elegance from the strings.”
“Led by Amy Lawrence, her project imagines a future Cornish utopia through eerie vocal ensembles, recorders, kelhorns and Breton bombardes.”
Borrowed from French ensemble.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.