environ

/ɪnˈvaɪɹən/

environ means in the neighbourhood; around.

environ is pronounced /ɪnˈvaɪɹən/.

Etymology

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;

adv

In the neighbourhood; around.
Almost, nearly.

verb

To encircle or surround (someone or something).
To encircle or surround (someone or something).; To encircle or surround (someone or something) so as to attack from all sides; to beset.
To encircle or surround (someone or something).; To encircle or surround (a heraldic element such as a charge or escutcheon (shield)).e.g.“Az[ure], an annulet environing a barrulet, betw[een] two bars and in chief a cross patty fitchy or.” — 1874, John W[oody] 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;
To cover, enclose, or envelop (someone or something).
Followed by from: to hide or shield (someone or something).e.g.“Lonely her fate was, / Environed from sight / In the house where the gate was / Past finding at night.” — 1922, Thomas Hardy, “Lonely Days”, in Late Lyrics and Earlier with Many Other Verses, London: Macmillan and Co., […], →OCLC, stanza 1, page 191:
Of a person: to be positioned or stationed around (someone or something) to attend to or protect them.
Of a situation or state of affairs, especially danger or trouble: to happen to and affect (someone or something).e.g.“Ay me! what perils do environ / The Man that meddles with cold Iron!” — 1662 (indicated as 1663), [Samuel Butler], “[The First Part of Hudibras]. Canto III.”, in Hudibras. The First and Second Parts. […], London: […] John Martyn and Henry Herringman, […], published 1678,
To amount to or encompass (a space).
To travel completely around (a place or thing); to circumnavigate.

noun

A surrounding area or place (especially of an urban settlement); an environment.e.g.“Naples and its environs”

Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Words closest in meaning

By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.

environings 71% match — environment; surroundings vs environ →
environer 68% match — A person or thing that environs. vs environ →
vicinage 68% match — A surrounding district; a neighbourhood. vs environ →
surrounding 67% match — An outlying area; area in proximity to something. vs environ →
ends 67% match — The area in close proximity to one's home; neighbourhood. vs environ →
environage 65% match — The sum of all things and circumstances that surrounds someone. vs environ →
convicinity 63% match — Immediate vicinity; neighbourhood, the state of being neighbouring. vs environ →
environry 63% match — Synonym of environment. vs environ →