What does environ mean?
"Environ" is a transitive verb meaning to surround or enclose something completely on every side. A traveler might say that mist environed a mountain peak, or that walls environed an ancient citadel, conveying total physical enclosure. The word entered English in the late Middle Ages from Old French "environner," built on "environ," meaning "around," and it was once a perfectly ordinary term for encirclement. Today, however, it has retreated into literary and archaic use: contemporary writers overwhelmingly choose "surround," "encircle," or "encompass" instead. Its chief claim on modern attention is as the ancestor of the ubiquitous noun "environment," which originally meant one's surroundings before acquiring its modern ecological sense. Knowing "environ" therefore illuminates the history of one of English's most important words, even though using the verb itself now signals a deliberately elevated or old-fashioned register.
verbTo surround or encircle completely on all sides. The verb is now rare and chiefly literary, surviving mainly as the root of the noun 'environment'.
- (transitive, now rare or literary) To surround, enclose, or encircle on all sides.
"Mist environed the mountain summit, hiding it entirely from view."
"The ancient city was environed by high walls on every side."
"Dark forests environed the lonely cottage, cutting it off from the world."
Before 'going green' was even a phrase, 'environ' was doing all the work — this once-common verb for 'to surround' survives today almost solely inside its famous offspring, 'environment'.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of environ
Environ comes from Old French "environner," meaning to encircle, formed on the adverbial phrase "environ," literally "in circle" or "around." This French source combines "en-" (from Latin "in-") with "viron," related to a root meaning "to turn." English adopted the verb in the late medieval period, when it was in regular use alongside similar formations such as "encompass." Its most successful descendant is the noun "environment," which English derived directly from "environ" and which has long since eclipsed the parent verb in frequency.
Related word forms
How environ is actually used
"Environ" is formal, literary, and largely archaic in modern English; ordinary usage strongly prefers "surround." It appears most often in older literature and in historical or poetic registers. Readers today encounter the word far more frequently as the root of "environment" than as an independent verb.
Easily confused with environ
Environment is the common noun referring to surroundings or the natural world, while environ is the rare verb meaning to physically surround something.