environ

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈvaɪɹən/, /ɛn-/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈvaɪ(ə)ɹən/, /ɛn-/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪɹən
• Hyphenation: en‧vir‧on

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)).

environ (not comparable) (obsolete)

1. In the neighbourhood; around.

   Synonyms: round, round about

   • c. 1519 (date written), , A New Iuterlude and a Mery of the Nature of the .IIII. Element; reprinted as John S. Farmer, editor, The Nature of the Four Elements (The Tudor Facsimile Texts), London, Edinburgh: T. C. & E. C. Jack, , 1908, →OCLC, signature Aij:

     Thaboũdant grace of the power deuyne / whiche doth illumyne yͤ world inuyron / Preſerue this audyẽce and cauſe them to inclyne / To charyte this is my petycyon

     The abundant grace of the power divine / which doth illumine the world environ / Preserve this audience and cause them to incline / To charity; this is my petition

   • 1600, , “The Second 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 80, page 35:

     Lord Godfreyes eie three times enuiron goes, / To vievv vvhat count'nance euerie vvarriour beares,

2. Almost, nearly.

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).

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

   • c. 1588–1593 (date written), , The Most Lamentable Romaine Tragedie of Titus Andronicus:  (First Quarto), London: Iohn Danter, and are to be sold by Edward White & Thomas Millington, , published 1594, →OCLC, , signature , verso:

     For now I ſtand as one vpon a rocke, / Inuirond with a wildernes of ſea, / VVho markes the vvaxing tide, grovv vvaue by vvaue, / Expecting euer vvhen ſome enuious ſurge, / VVill in his briniſh bovvels ſvvallow him.

   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto V”, in The Faerie Queene. , London: ">…] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 39, page 473:

     Into that foreſt farre they thence him led, / VVhere vvas their dvvelling, in a pleaſant glade, / VVith mountaines rovvnd about enuironed, / And mightie vvoodes, vvhich did the valley ſhade,

   • c. 1610 (date written), John Denton, “Burgh Barony”, in R S Ferguson, editor, An Accompt of the Most Considerable Estates and Families in the County of Cumberland, from the Conquest unto the Beginning of the Reign of K. James , Kendal, Cumbria: T. Wilson, published 1887, →OCLC, page 76:

     There is another village called Finland, Fingland and Fennland, which is almost environned with a moss and fenny ground.

   • 1673, John Milton, “ XII. On the Same .”, in Poems, &c. upon Several Occasions, London: Tho Dring , →OCLC, page 56:

     I did but prompt the age to quit their cloggs / By the knovvn rules of antient libertie, / When ſtrait a barbarous noiſe environs me / Of Ovvles and Cuckoes, Aſſes, Apes and Doggs.

   • 1785, William Cowper, “Book I. The Sofa.”, in The Task, a Poem,  To which are Added, by the Same Author, An Epistle to Joseph Hill, Esq. Tirocinium, or a Review of Schools, and The History of John Gilpin.">…], London: J Johnson;  , →OCLC, page 12:

     ent I forth, and found, till then unknovvn, / A cottage, vvhither oft vve ſince repair: / 'Tis perch'd upon the green-hill top, but cloſe / Inviron'd vvith a ring of branching elms / That overhang the thatch, itſelf unſeen, / Peeps at the vale belovv;

   • 1858 May 23, Theodore Parker, “ XXX”, in Prayers, Boston, Mass.: Walker, Wise, and Company, published 1862, →OCLC, page 148:

     We bless thee for the material world, wherewith thou environest us beneath and about and overhead.

   • 1859 December 13, Charles Dickens, “The Mortals in the House”, in Charles Dickens, editor, The Haunted House. The Extra Christmas Number of All the Year Round  Containing the Amount of Two Ordinary Numbers.">…], volume II, London: C Whiting, , →OCLC, page 1, column 1:

     Under none of the accredited ghostly circumstances, and environed by none of the conventional ghostly surroundings, did I first make acquaintance with the house which is the subject of this Christmas piece.

   1. (often military) To encircle or surround (someone or something) so as to attack from all sides; to beset.

      Synonyms: beleaguer, besiege

      • 1569, Richard Grafton, “Edwarde the Fourth”, in A Chronicle at Large and Meere History of the Affayres of Englande , volume II, London: Henry Denham, , for Richarde Tottle and Humffrey Toye, →OCLC, page 712:

        The Erle in good haſte departed thence to Penbroke, whome incontinent Morgan Thomas, by king Edwards commaundement ſo ſtrongly beſieged, and ſo enuironed his Caſtell with a ditche and a trench, that he could not lightly flie or eſcape thence,

      • 1579, Plutarke of Chæronea , “The Life of Philopœmen”, in Thomas North, transl., The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romaines, , London: Richard Field, →OCLC, page 406:

        Philopœmen fearinge to be enuironned, and being deſirous to bring his men ſafe home againe, vvho moſt of loue had follovved him: beganne to marche avvay through narrovv buſhy places, him ſelfe being in the rerevvard, and turned oftentimes vpon his enemies,

      • c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, ”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , page 152, column 2:

        Enuironed he vvas vvith many foes, / And ſtood againſt them, as the hope of Troy / Againſt the Greekes, that vvould haue entred Troy.

      • 1762, David Hume, “ Chapter I.”, in The History of England, from the Invasion of Julius Cæsar to the Accession of Henry VII, volume I, London: A Millar, , →OCLC, page 39:

        The King had an intrigue vvith a young vvoman, vvho lived at Merton in Surrey; vvhither having ſecretly retired, he vvas on a ſudden environed, in the night-time, by Kynehard and his follovvers, and after making a vigorous reſiſtance, vvas murdered, vvith all his attendants.

      • 1813, Percy Bysshe Shelley, “Notes. IV. Page 54. Falsehood and Vice: A Dialogue.”, in Queen Mab; , London: P. B. Shelley, , →OCLC, page 130:

        Where slavery wields her scourge of iron, / Red with mankind's unheeded gore, / And war's mad fiends environ, / Mingling with shrieks a drunken roar,

   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).
   • 1922, Thomas Hardy, “Lonely Days”, in Late Lyrics and Earlier with Many Other Verses, London: Macmillan and Co., , →OCLC, stanza 1, page 191:

     Lonely her fate was, / Environed from sight / In the house where the gate was / Past finding at night.

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).
   • 1662 (indicated as 1663), , “. Canto III.”, in Hudibras. The First and Second Parts. , London: N for">…] John Martyn and Henry Herringman, , published 1678, →OCLC; republished in A R Waller, editor, Hudibras: Written in the Time of the Late Wars, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: University Press, 1905, →OCLC, page 59:

     Ay me! what perils do environ / The Man that meddles with cold Iron!

   • 1753, , “Monimia’s Honour is Protected by the Interposition of Heaven”, in The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom. , volume II, London: W. Johnston, , →OCLC, page 100:

     he knew not one person to whose protection she could have recourse, from the inexpressible woes that environed her:

   • 1794 May 8, Ann Radcliffe, chapter III, in The Mysteries of Udolpho, a Romance;  In Four Volumes.">…], volume II, London: G. G. and J. Robinson, , →OCLC, page 130:

     Thus the party continued to converſe, and, as far as civility vvould permit, to torture each other by mutual boaſts, vvhile they reclined on ſofas in the portico, and vvere environed vvith delights both from nature and art, by vvhich any honeſt minds vvould have been tempered to benevolence, and happy imaginations vvould have been ſoothed into enchantment.

   • 1796, , “Traits of Eccentricity”, in Camilla: Or, A Picture of Youth. , volume III, London: T Payne, ; and T Cadell Jun. and W Davies (successors to Mr. Cadell) , →OCLC, book VI, page 384:

     e never ceaſed to experience the fondeſt intereſt in her happineſs, nor the moſt tender compaſſion for the dangers vvith vvhich he ſavv her environed.

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.

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.

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 y^e Towre, whence we had a prospect towards Duresme, and could see Rippon, part of Lancashire, the famous and fatal Marston Moore, y^e 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.

• surroundings on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• environ (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E Smith, editors (1911), “environ”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “environ”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “environ”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

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

• IPA^(key): /ɑ̃.vi.ʁɔ̃/

• Audio:

  (file)

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.

environ m (plural environs)

1. (especially in plural) a surrounding area

• aux environs de

• environnement

• “environ”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.

• innover

environ

1. about; around; roughly
2. around
   • 1488, Jean Dupré, Lancelot du Lac, page 23:

     il regarda environ soy

     he look around him

• Audio (Languedoc):

  (file)

environ

1. about, around, approximately

• envirun (Anglo-Norman)
• enveron

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

environ

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

• Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX^e au XV^e siècle (1881) (environ)