Environment

How to spell environment

11 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce environment

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does environment mean?

1. nounThe surroundings or conditions in which a person, animal, or thing exists, including the natural world.

Environment in a sentence

• We must protect the environment.

• The work environment here is very supportive.

• A peaceful environment helps you concentrate.

Where does environment come from?

Language of origin: French

The word descends from the Old French verb environner, meaning 'to surround' or 'to encircle', which itself was built from the adverb environ, 'around', a combination of en 'in' and viron 'a circuit' or 'circle' (related to virer, 'to turn'). English took in the verb 'environ' during the late 1300s with the sense of encircling or hemming in. The noun 'environment', meaning the surroundings or conditions in which something exists, was formed later by adding the suffix -ment, and it was popularised in the early nineteenth century, notably by the writer Thomas Carlyle. The ecological sense, the natural world as affected by human activity, grew up mainly in the twentieth century. The notorious spelling trap, the silent 'n' in environ-N-ment, comes straight from that buried French viron 'circuit', which is exactly why the letter so often goes missing in modern writing.

How the word is built

• environ (from Old French environ: around)
• -ment (noun suffix denoting a state or result)