environ

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word environ. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word environ, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say environ in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word environ you have here. The definition of the word environ will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofenviron, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.

English

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Middle English enviroun (round about in a circle or ring; all around) , from Anglo-Norman enviroun, environ , and Middle French enviroun, environ , from Old French environ (around, surrounding; about, approximately, roughly) (modern French environ), from en- (prefix meaning ‘in; into’) + viron (circuit; circumference, compass; country round about) (though first attested later) (from virer (to bear, turn, veer) (either from Latin gȳrō (to turn in a circle, rotate; to circle, revolve around) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gew- (to bend, curve; an arch, vault)), or from Latin vibrō (to hurl, launch; shake; to tremble, vibrate) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weyb-, *weyp- (to shake; to tremble; to sway, swing; to rotate, turn, wind, wrap (around)))) + -on (augmentative suffix)).

Adverb

environ (not comparable) (obsolete)

  1. In the neighbourhood; around.
    Synonyms: round, round about
  2. Almost, nearly.

Etymology 2

From Middle English envirounen, enviroun (to surround in a circle or ring, or on the perimeter; to beset, besiege; to cover, enclose, envelop; to provide a setting or surrounding to; to move in a circle; to move around the perimeter; to go, move, or wander about (a place); to fill or pervade (a place); to run all the way through) , from Anglo-Norman envirouner , Middle French environner, and Old French environner (to arrange in a circle; to circumnavigate, travel around; to traverse, wander around; to encircle, encompass, surround)  (modern French environner), from environ (adverb) (see etymology 1) + -er (suffix forming verbs).

Verb

environ (third-person singular simple present environs, present participle environing, simple past and past participle environed) (transitive)

  1. To encircle or surround (someone or something).
    Synonym: (obsolete) belay
    1. (often military) To encircle or surround (someone or something) so as to attack from all sides; to beset.
      Synonyms: beleaguer, besiege
    2. (heraldry, chiefly passive voice, obsolete) To encircle or surround (a heraldic element such as a charge or escutcheon (shield)).
      Synonyms: envelop, entwist, enwrap
      • 1874, John W Papworth, “1 ANNULET betw. or within … and in chief …”, in Alfred W. Morant, editor, An Alphabetical Dictionary of Coats of Arms Belonging to Families in Great Britain and Ireland; , London: T. Richards, , →OCLC, page 4, column 2:
        Az, an annulet environing a barrulet, betw two bars and in chief a cross patty fitchy or.
  2. To cover, enclose, or envelop (someone or something).
    Synonym: (obsolete) belay
    • 1600, , “The Fifteenth Booke of Godfrey of Bulloigne”, in Edward Fairefax , transl., Godfrey of Bulloigne, or The Recouerie of Ierusalem. , London: Ar Hatfield, for I Iaggard and M Lownes, →OCLC, stanza 33, page 273:
      Farre off a hill and mountaine high they ſpide, / VVhoſe top the cloudes enuiron, cloath and hide;
    • 1602 (first performance), Thomas Dickers , Iohn Webster , The Famous History of Sir Thomas Wyat. , London: E A for Thomas Archer, , published 1607, →OCLC; reprinted as John S. Farmer, editor, The Famous History of Sir Thomas Wyat (The Tudor Facsimile Texts; 22), , 1914, →OCLC, signature , recto:
      Thus like a Nun, not like a Princeſſe borne, / Deſcended from the Royall Henries loynes: / Liue I inuironed in a houſe of ſtone,
    • a. 1631 (date written; published 1635), J Donne, “Eleg XIIII. His Parting from Her.”, in Poems, with Elegies on the Authors Death, London: M F for John Marriot, , published 1639, →OCLC, page 95:
      Since ſhe muſt goe, and I muſt mourne, come night / Environ me vvith darkneſſe, vvhilſt I vvrite: / Shadovv that hell unto me, vvhich alone / I am to ſuffer vvhen my ſoule is gone.
    • 1753, , “His Return to England, and Midnight Pilgrimage to Monimia’s Tomb”, in The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom. , volume II, London: W. Johnston, , →OCLC, page 239:
      In vain I ſtretch theſe eyes, environed vvith darkneſs undiſtinguiſhing and void: no object meets my view; no ſound ſalutes mine ear, except the noiſy vvind that vvhiſtles through theſe vaulted caves of death.
    • 1846, Walter Savage Landor, “ X. Enallos and Cymodameia.”, in The Works of Walter Savage Landor. , volume II, London: Edward Moxon, , →OCLC, page 482, column 1:
      Gravely-gladsome light / Environed them with its eternal green:
    • 1847 October 16, Currer Bell , chapter X, in Jane Eyre. An Autobiography.  In Three Volumes.">…], volume II, London: Smith, Elder, and Co., , →OCLC, page 268:
      On sleeping, I continued in dreams the idea of a dark and gusty night. otal obscurity environed me; rain pelted me;
    • 1870, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, “ Sonnet XVI. Life-in-Love.”, in Poems, London: F S Ellis, , →OCLC, stanza 2, page 204:
      Even so much life endures unknown, even where, / 'Mid change the changeless night environeth, / Lies all that golden hair undimmed in death.
  3. Followed by from: to hide or shield (someone or something).
  4. (chiefly passive voice) Of a person: to be positioned or stationed around (someone or something) to attend to or protect them.
    • 1609, Ammianus Marcellinus, “ Chapter VIII. Whiles Valens is Farre Removed by Occasion of Warre against the Gothes, Procopius Putting Forward His Intended Businesse, is by Tumultuarie Acclamations Saluted Emperour.”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Roman Historie, , London: Adam Jslip, →OCLC, page 293:
      ll of them, upon an aſſociation made in the night, agreed to ſide vvith him, vvith aſſurance of ſafe conduct being gladly admitted unto them, environed he vvas vvith a multitude thronged together of vendible or ſale ſouldiors,
    • 1675, Joshua Stopford, “Altars”, in Pagano-papismus: Or, An Exact Parallel Between Rome-pagan, and Rome-Christian, in Their Doctrines and Ceremonies, London: A. Maxwell, for R. Clavel, , →OCLC, page 75:
      O moſt high God, who keepeſt all things whether high or low, and environeſt every creature; ſancti†fie and bleſs† theſe Creatures of lime and ſand; Through Chriſt our Lord, Amen.
      The † symbol indicates the point at which the bishop makes the sign of the cross.
    • 1759, David Hume, “ Chapter III.”, in The History of England, under the House of Tudor. , volume II, London: A Millar, , →OCLC, page 543:
      he admiral in particular, being dangerouſly vvounded, and environed by the guards of the King, on vvhose protection he ſeemed entirely to rely, had no means of eſcape, and might ſurely, before his death, have been convicted of the crimes imputed to him:
  5. (figuratively) Of a situation or state of affairs, especially danger or trouble: to happen to and affect (someone or something).
  6. (obsolete)
    1. To amount to or encompass (a space).
      • 1614, Samuel Purchas, “ Of the Philippina’s.”, in Purchas His Pilgrimage. Or Relations of the World and the Religions Observed in All Ages and Places Discouered, from the Creation vnto this Present. , 2nd edition, London: William Stansby for Henrie Fetherstone, , →OCLC, book V (Of the East-Indies, and of the Seas and Ilands about Asia, with Their Religions), page 535:
        Tendaia (vvhich firſt obtained the Philippine title) enuironeth a hundred and ſixtie leagues, from tvvelue to fifteene degrees of latitude: the people Idolatrous, abounding vvith Pepper, Ginger, Gold, and Mynes.
    2. To travel completely around (a place or thing); to circumnavigate.
Conjugation
Conjugation of environ
infinitive (to) environ
present tense past tense
1st-person singular environ environed, environned
2nd-person singular environ, environest environed, environedst, environned
3rd-person singular environs, environeth environed, environned
plural environ
subjunctive environ environed, environned
imperative environ
participles environing environed, environned

Archaic or obsolete.

Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 3

From Late Middle English invyroun, Middle English enuyroun, enuyrown, from Anglo-Norman enviroun, environ, envirun, and Middle French environ (circumference; surroundings; (in the plural) boundaries, frontiers) (chiefly in the plural) (modern French environ), a noun use of Old French environ (adverb): see etymology 1.

Noun

environ (plural environs)

  1. (archaic except in the plural, formal, also figuratively) A surrounding area or place (especially of an urban settlement); an environment.
    Naples and its environs
    • 1654 August 27 (Gregorian calendar), John Evelyn, “”, in William Bray, editor, Memoirs, Illustrative of the Life and Writings of John Evelyn, , 2nd edition, volume I, London: Henry Colburn, ; and sold by John and Arthur Arch, , published 1819, →OCLC, page 286:
      I got up to ye Towre, whence we had a prospect towards Duresme, and could see Rippon, part of Lancashire, the famous and fatal Marston Moore, ye Spaws of Knaresborough, and all the environs of that admirable country.
    • 1762, Foote, The Orators. , Dublin: Thomas Richey, , →OCLC, Act I, pages 20–21:
      ovv, if a hamlet containing thirty houſes, vvith perhaps an environ of an equal number, vvhere labour and the fruits of the earth are the only ſources of vvealth, can ſupport one attorney in this rural magnificence; vvhat an infinite number of lavvyers can a commercial capital ſuſtain?
    • 1811, , chapter XIX, in Sense and Sensibility , volume I, London: C Roworth, , and published by T Egerton, , →OCLC, page 235:
      His spirits, during the last two or three days, though still very unequal, were greatly improved—he grew more and more partial to the house and environs—never spoke of going away without a sigh—
    • 1823 April 14, Lord Byron, “Letter DXIV. To the Earl of B**.”, in Thomas Moore, editor, Letters and Journals of Lord Byron: With Notices of His Life, , volume II, London: John Murray, , published 1830, →OCLC, page 640:
      I am truly sorry that I cannot accompany you in your ride this morning, owing to a violent pain in my face, arising from a wart to which I by medical advice applied a caustic. Whether I put too much, I do not know, but the consequence is, that not only I have been put to some pain, but the peccant part and its immediate environ are as black as if the printer's devil had marked me for an author.
Derived terms
Translations

References

  1. ^ envīrǒun, adv.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  2. ^ † environ, adv. and prep.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required, Oxford: Oxford University Press, December 2021.
  3. ^ envīrǒunen, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  4. ^ environ, v.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required, Oxford: Oxford University Press, September 2022; environ, v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  5. ^ environ, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required, Oxford: Oxford University Press, March 2022.

Further reading

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French environ (around), from en (in) +‎ viron (a turn), from virer (to turn, veer), whence also French virer.

Pronunciation

Adverb

environ

  1. about, close to, around
    un salaire annuel d'environ 7 millions d'euros
    an annual salary of around 7 million euros
    Il y a dans ce coffre-fort environ trois mille francs.
    There is about three thousand francs in the safe.
    Il mesure environ un mètre.
    It measures close to a metre.

Noun

environ m (plural environs)

  1. (especially in plural) a surrounding area

Derived terms

Further reading

Anagrams

Middle French

Adverb

environ

  1. about; around; roughly
  2. around
    • 1488, Jean Dupré, Lancelot du Lac, page 23:
      il regarda environ soy
      he look around him

Occitan

Pronunciation

Adverb

environ

  1. about, around, approximately

Old French

Alternative forms

Etymology

Univerbation of en viron (in circle), the latter word ultimately from the verb virer (to turn).

Adverb

environ

  1. around
    1. surrounding
    2. about, roughly, approximately

References