environ

Etymology 1

PIE word *h₁én The adverb is derived 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)). The preposition is derived from Middle English enviroun (“around the outside or perimeter of; all around; about or throughout the extent of”), which is from the adverb. cognates * Catalan enviró, environ (both obsolete) * Occitan environ * Spanish environ (obsolete)

adv

1. 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 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 c. 1519 (date written), [John Rastell], A New Iuterlude [sic] and a Mery of the Nature of the .IIII. Element[s...]; 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
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”) [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

1. To encircle or surround (someone or something).
   1. (often military) To encircle or surround (someone or something) so as to attack from all sides; to beset.
   2. (heraldry, chiefly passive, obsolete) 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. 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;[…], London: T. Richards,[…], →OCLC, page 4, column 2
2. To cover, enclose, or envelop (someone or something).
3. Followed by from: to hide or shield (someone or something).
4. (chiefly passive) Of a person: to be positioned or stationed around (someone or something) to attend to or protect them.
   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. 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
5. (figurative) 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).
   2. To travel completely around (a place or thing); to circumnavigate.

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

1. (archaic except in the plural, formal, also figurative) A surrounding area or place (especially of an urban settlement); an environment.
   Naples and its environs