environ

¹

[en-vahy-ruhn, -vahy-ern]

verb (used with object)

1. to form a circle or ring round; surround; envelop.

   a house environed by pleasant grounds; to be environed by bad influences.

environ.

²

abbreviation

1. environment.

2. environmental.

3. environmentalism.

4. environmentalist.

environ

/ ɪnˈvaɪrən /

verb

1. (tr) to encircle or surround

Other Word Forms

• unenvironed adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of environ¹

1300–50; Middle English envirounen < Old French environner, derivative of environ around ( en en- ¹ + viron a circle; vir ( er ) to turn, veer ¹ + -on noun suffix)

Word History and Origins

Origin of environ¹

C14: from Old French environner to surround, from environ around, from _en- ¹ + viron a circle, from virer to turn, _veer ¹

Example Sentences

By the 1960s, two enormous developments had taken place in Korea and its environs.

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The Russian Defense Ministry said Wednesday that its troops were advancing north through the city and clearing out Ukrainian troops that it said were cut off in Pokrovsk and its environs.

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“Don’t be caught here after dark,” said the jittery cop, who brandished an assault rifle as he scanned the environs.

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Wealthier often means having a nicer apartment, but an apartment all the same, existing in the same environs as those in a different price range.

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The American remake of “The Office” transformed the blank environs of an office supplies wholesaler into an adorable terrarium.

Read more on Salon