environ
English · Français · Thesaurus
AI In plain words
Writing a short explanation…
Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
environ¹
- /ɪnˈvaɪɹən/ UK
- /ɛn-/ UK
- /ɪnˈvaɪ(ə)ɹən/ US
- /ɛn-/ US
Rhymes with -aɪɹən
Where it comes from
From Middle English enviroun (“round about in a circle or ring; all around”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman enviroun, environ [and other forms], and Middle French enviroun, environ [and other forms], 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)).
Cognates
* Catalan enviró, environ (both obsolete)
* Occitan environ
* Spanish environ (obsolete)
adverb
-
In the neighbourhood; around.
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
Similar: round, round about
- Almost, nearly.
environ²
- /ɪnˈvaɪɹən/ UK
- /ɛn-/ UK
- /ɪnˈvaɪ(ə)ɹən/ US
- /ɛn-/ US
Rhymes with -aɪɹən
Where it comes from
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”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman envirouner [and other forms], Middle French environner, and Old French environner (“to arrange in a circle; to circumnavigate, travel around; to traverse, wander around; to encircle, encompass, surround”) [and other forms] (modern French environner), from environ (adverb) (see etymology 1) + -er (suffix forming verbs).
Cognates
* Catalan environar (obsolete)
* Old French avironer, avironner (Middle French avironer, avironner, Anglo-Norman avironer, aviruner)
* Spanish environar (obsolete)
verb environs · environing · environed · environ
-
To encircle or surround (someone or something).
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.
Similar: belay
- To encircle or surround (someone or something) so as to attack from all sides; to beset. 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, […]
- To encircle or surround (a heraldic element such as a charge or escutcheon (shield)). Az[ure], an annulet environing a barrulet, betw[een] two bars and in chief a cross patty fitchy or.
-
To cover, enclose, or envelop (someone or something).
Farre off a hill and mountaine high they ſpide, / VVhoſe top the cloudes enuiron, cloath and hide; […]
Similar: belay
- Followed by from: to hide or shield (someone or something). Lonely her fate was, / Environed from sight / In the house where the gate was / Past finding at night.
- Of a person: to be positioned or stationed around (someone or something) to attend to or protect them. [A]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, […]
- Of a situation or state of affairs, especially danger or trouble: to happen to and affect (someone or something). Ay me! what perils do environ / The Man that meddles with cold Iron!
- To amount to or encompass (a space). 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.
- To travel completely around (a place or thing); to circumnavigate.
environ³
- /ɪnˈvaɪɹən/ UK
- /ɛn-/ UK
- /ɪnˈvaɪ(ə)ɹən/ US
- /ɛn-/ US
Rhymes with -aɪɹən
Where it comes from
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 environs
- A surrounding area or place (especially of an urban settlement); an environment. Naples and its environs
Translations
Talk about this word "environ." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/environ. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. environ. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/environ "environ." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/environ.Cite this
@misc{environ_2026,
title = {environ},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/environ},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
