environ
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ɪnˈvaɪɹən/
ipa: /ɛn-/
ipa: /ɪnˈvaɪ(ə)ɹən/
ipa: /ɛn-/
rhymes: -aɪɹən
Forms: form: environs
form: environing
form: environed
form: environed
form: no-table-tags
form: glossary
form: environ
form: environ
form: environed
form: environned
form: environ
form: environest
form: environed
form: environedst
form: environned
form: environs
form: environeth
form: environed
form: environned
form: environ
form: environed
form: environned
form: environ
form: environed
form: environned
form: environ
form: -
form: environing
form: environed
form: environned
Etymology: 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)
Senses: examples: text: 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.
ref: c. 1588–1593 (date written), [William Shakespeare], The Most Lamentable Romaine Tragedie of Titus Andronicus: […] (First Quarto), London: […] Iohn Danter, and are to be sold by Edward White & Thomas Millington, […], published 1594, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i], signature [E4], verso:
text: Into that foreſt farre they thence him led, / VVhere vvas their dvvelling, in a pleaſant glade, / VVith mountaines rovvnd about enuironed, / And mightie vvoodes, vvhich did the valley ſhade, […]
ref: 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto V”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 39, page 473:
text: There is another village called Finland, Fingland and Fennland, which is almost environned with a moss and fenny ground.
ref: c. 1610 (date written), John Denton, “Burgh Barony”, in R[ichard] S[aul] Ferguson, editor, An Accompt of the Most Considerable Estates and Families in the County of Cumberland, from the Conquest unto the Beginning of the Reign of K. James [the First], Kendal, Cumbria: T. Wilson, published 1887, →OCLC, page 76:
text: I did but prompt the age to quit their cloggs / By the knovvn rules of antient libertie, / When ſtrait a barbarous noiſe environs me / Of Ovvles and Cuckoes, Aſſes, Apes and Doggs.
ref: 1673, John Milton, “[Sonnet] XII. On the Same [Tetrachordon].”, in Poems, &c. upon Several Occasions, London: […] Tho[mas] Dring […], →OCLC, page 56:
text: [W]ent I forth, and found, till then unknovvn, / A cottage, vvhither oft vve ſince repair: / 'Tis perch'd upon the green-hill top, but cloſe / Inviron'd vvith a ring of branching elms / That overhang the thatch, itſelf unſeen, / Peeps at the vale belovv; […]
ref: 1785, William Cowper, “Book I. The Sofa.”, in The Task, a Poem, […], London: […] J[oseph] Johnson; […], →OCLC, page 12:
text: We bless thee for the material world, wherewith thou environest us beneath and about and overhead.
ref: 1858 May 23, Theodore Parker, “[Prayer] XXX”, in Prayers, Boston, Mass.: Walker, Wise, and Company, published 1862, →OCLC, page 148:
text: Under none of the accredited ghostly circumstances, and environed by none of the conventional ghostly surroundings, did I first make acquaintance with the house which is the subject of this Christmas piece.
ref: 1859 December 13, Charles Dickens, “The Mortals in the House”, in Charles Dickens, editor, The Haunted House. The Extra Christmas Number of All the Year Round […], volume II, London: […] C[harles] Whiting, […], →OCLC, page 1, column 1:
synonyms: word: belay
glosses: To encircle or surround (someone or something).
examples: text: 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, […]
ref: 1569, Richard Grafton, “Edwarde the Fourth”, in A Chronicle at Large and Meere History of the Affayres of Englande […], volume II, London: […] Henry Denham, […], for Richarde Tottle and Humffrey Toye, →OCLC, page 712:
text: Philopœmen fearinge to be enuironned, and being deſirous to bring his men ſafe home againe, vvho moſt of loue had follovved him: beganne to marche avvay through narrovv buſhy places, him ſelfe being in the rerevvard, and turned oftentimes vpon his enemies, […]
ref: 1579, Plutarke of Chæronea [i.e., Plutarch], “The Life of Philopœmen”, in Thomas North, transl., The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romaines, […], London: […] Richard Field, →OCLC, page 406:
text: Enuironed he vvas vvith many foes, / And ſtood againſt them, as the hope of Troy / Againſt the Greekes, that vvould haue entred Troy.
ref: c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i], page 152, column 2:
text: The King [Cynewulf of Wessex] had an intrigue vvith a young vvoman, vvho lived at Merton in Surrey; vvhither having ſecretly retired, he vvas on a ſudden environed, in the night-time, by Kynehard and his follovvers, and after making a vigorous reſiſtance, vvas murdered, vvith all his attendants.
ref: 1762, David Hume, “ Chapter I.”, in The History of England, from the Invasion of Julius Cæsar to the Accession of Henry VII, volume I, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, page 39:
text: Where slavery wields her scourge of iron, / Red with mankind's unheeded gore, / And war's mad fiends environ, / Mingling with shrieks a drunken roar, […]
ref: 1813, Percy Bysshe Shelley, “Notes. IV. Page 54. Falsehood and Vice: A Dialogue.”, in Queen Mab; […], London: […] P. B. Shelley, […], →OCLC, page 130:
topics: government
military
politics
war
synonyms: word: belay
word: beleaguer
word: besiege
glosses: To encircle or surround (someone or something).
To encircle or surround (someone or something) so as to attack from all sides; to beset.
examples: text: Az[ure], an annulet environing a barrulet, betw[een] two bars and in chief a cross patty fitchy or.
ref: 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:
topics: government
heraldry
hobbies
lifestyle
monarchy
nobility
politics
synonyms: word: belay
word: envelop
word: entwist
word: enwrap
glosses: To encircle or surround (someone or something).
To encircle or surround (a heraldic element such as a charge or escutcheon (shield)).
qualifier: chiefly passive voice
examples: text: Farre off a hill and mountaine high they ſpide, / VVhoſe top the cloudes enuiron, cloath and hide; […]
ref: 1600, [Torquato Tasso], “The Fifteenth Booke of Godfrey of Bulloigne”, in Edward Fairefax [i.e., Edward Fairfax], transl., Godfrey of Bulloigne, or The Recouerie of Ierusalem. […], London: […] Ar[nold] Hatfield, for I[saac] Iaggard and M[atthew] Lownes, →OCLC, stanza 33, page 273:
text: Thus like a Nun, not like a Princeſſe borne, / Deſcended from the Royall Henries loynes: / Liue I inuironed in a houſe of ſtone, […]
ref: 1602 (first performance), Thomas Dickers [i.e., Thomas Dekker], Iohn Webster [i.e., John Webster], The Famous History of Sir Thomas Wyat. […], London: […] E[dward] A[llde] for Thomas Archer, […], published 1607, →OCLC; reprinted as John S. Farmer, editor, The Famous History of Sir Thomas Wyat (The Tudor Facsimile Texts; 22), [Amersham, Buckinghamshire: s.n.], 1914, →OCLC, signature [A4], recto:
text: Since ſhe muſt goe, and I muſt mourne, come night / Environ me vvith darkneſſe, vvhilſt I vvrite: / Shadovv that hell unto me, vvhich alone / I am to ſuffer vvhen my ſoule is gone.
ref: a. 1631 (date written; published 1635), J[ohn] Donne, “Eleg[y] XIIII. His Parting from Her.”, in Poems, […] with Elegies on the Authors Death, London: […] M[iles] F[lesher] for John Marriot, […], published 1639, →OCLC, page 95:
text: In vain I ſtretch theſe eyes, environed vvith darkneſs undiſtinguiſhing and void: no object meets my view; no ſound ſalutes mine ear, except the noiſy vvind that vvhiſtles through theſe vaulted caves of death.
ref: 1753, [Tobias Smollett], “His Return to England, and Midnight Pilgrimage to Monimia’s Tomb”, in The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom. […], volume II, London: […] W. Johnston, […], →OCLC, page 239:
text: Gravely-gladsome light / Environed them with its eternal green: […]
ref: 1846, Walter Savage Landor, “[Poems. Hellenics.] X. Enallos and Cymodameia.”, in The Works of Walter Savage Landor. […], volume II, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 482, column 1:
text: On sleeping, I continued in dreams the idea of a dark and gusty night. […] [T]otal obscurity environed me; rain pelted me; […]
ref: 1847 October 16, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], chapter X, in Jane Eyre. An Autobiography. […], volume II, London: Smith, Elder, and Co., […], →OCLC, page 268:
text: Even so much life endures unknown, even where, / 'Mid change the changeless night environeth, / Lies all that golden hair undimmed in death.
ref: 1870, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, “[Sonnets and Songs, towards a Work to be Called ‘The House of Life.’ Sonnets.] Sonnet XVI. Life-in-Love.”, in Poems, London: F[rederick] S[tartridge] Ellis, […], →OCLC, stanza 2, page 204:
synonyms: word: belay
glosses: To cover, enclose, or envelop (someone or something).
examples: text: Lonely her fate was, / Environed from sight / In the house where the gate was / Past finding at night.
ref: 1922, Thomas Hardy, “Lonely Days”, in Late Lyrics and Earlier with Many Other Verses, London: Macmillan and Co., […], →OCLC, stanza 1, page 191:
glosses: Followed by from: to hide or shield (someone or something).
examples: text: [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, […]
ref: 1609, Ammianus Marcellinus, “[The XXVI. Booke.] Chapter VIII. Whiles Valens is Farre Removed by Occasion of Warre against the Gothes, Procopius Putting Forward His Intended Businesse, is by Tumultuarie Acclamations Saluted Emperour.”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Roman Historie, […], London: […] Adam Jslip, →OCLC, page 293:
text: 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.
ref: 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:
text: [T]he admiral in particular, being dangerouſly vvounded, and environed by the guards of the King, on vvhose protection he ſeemed entirely to rely, had no means of eſcape, and might ſurely, before his death, have been convicted of the crimes imputed to him: […]
ref: 1759, David Hume, “[Elizabeth I.] Chapter III.”, in The History of England, under the House of Tudor. […], volume II, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, page 543:
qualifier: chiefly passive voice
glosses: Of a person: to be positioned or stationed around (someone or something) to attend to or protect them.
examples: text: Ay me! what perils do environ / The Man that meddles with cold Iron!
ref: 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, →OCLC; republished in A[lfred] R[ayney] Waller, editor, Hudibras: Written in the Time of the Late Wars, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: University Press, 1905, →OCLC, page 59:
text: [S]he knew not one person to whose protection she could have recourse, from the inexpressible woes that environed her: […]
ref: 1753, [Tobias Smollett], “Monimia’s Honour is Protected by the Interposition of Heaven”, in The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom. […], volume II, London: […] W. Johnston, […], →OCLC, page 100:
text: Thus the party continued to converſe, and, as far as civility vvould permit, to torture each other by mutual boaſts, vvhile they reclined on ſofas in the portico, and vvere environed vvith delights both from nature and art, by vvhich any honeſt minds vvould have been tempered to benevolence, and happy imaginations vvould have been ſoothed into enchantment.
ref: 1794 May 8, Ann Radcliffe, chapter III, in The Mysteries of Udolpho, a Romance; […], volume II, London: […] G. G. and J. Robinson, […], →OCLC, page 130:
text: [H]e never ceaſed to experience the fondeſt intereſt in her happineſs, nor the moſt tender compaſſion for the dangers vvith vvhich he ſavv her environed.
ref: 1796, [Frances Burney], “Traits of Eccentricity”, in Camilla: Or, A Picture of Youth. […], volume III, London: […] T[homas] Payne, […]; and T[homas] Cadell Jun. and W[illiam] Davies (successors to Mr. [Thomas] Cadell) […], →OCLC, book VI, page 384:
glosses: Of a situation or state of affairs, especially danger or trouble: to happen to and affect (someone or something).
examples: text: 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.
ref: 1614, Samuel Purchas, “[Asia.] Of the Philippina’s.”, in Purchas His Pilgrimage. Or Relations of the World and the Religions Observed in All Ages and Places Discouered, from the Creation vnto this Present. […], 2nd edition, London: […] William Stansby for Henrie Fetherstone, […], →OCLC, book V (Of the East-Indies, and of the Seas and Ilands about Asia, with Their Religions), page 535:
glosses: To amount to or encompass (a space).
glosses: To travel completely around (a place or thing); to circumnavigate.
Derived terms: word: disenviron
word: environed
word: environer
word: environing
word: unenvironed
Related terms: enviro
enviro-
environment
environmental
environmentalism
environmentalist
environmentally
Enviropig