environment

English

Etymology

From Middle French environnement, equivalent to environ +‎ -ment. Compare French environnement.

Pronunciation

• (non-rhotic) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈvaɪɹə(n)mənt/, /ənˈ-/, /-mɪnt/
• (rhotic) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈvaɪɚ(n)mənt/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

environment (plural environments)

1. The surroundings of, and influences on, a particular item of interest.
2. The natural world or ecosystem.
   • 2013 June 7, David Simpson, “Fantasy of navigation”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 36:

     It is tempting to speculate about the incentives or compulsions that might explain why anyone would take to the skies in [the] basket [of a balloon]: […];  […]; or perhaps to muse on the irrelevance of the borders that separate nation states and keep people from understanding their shared environment.

3. All the elements that affect a system or its inputs and outputs.
4. A particular political or social setting, arena or condition.
5. (computing) The software and/or hardware existing on any particular computer system.

   That program uses the Microsoft Windows environment.

6. (programming) The environment of a function at a point during the execution of a program is the set of identifiers in the function's scope and their bindings at that point.
7. (computing) The set of variables and their values in a namespace that an operating system associates with a process.

Synonyms

• domain
• ecosystem
• surrounding
• umbworld

 

Derived terms

With prefixes

• agroenvironment
• antienvironment
• bioenvironment
• cyberenvironment
• ecoenvironment
• geoenvironment
• hydroenvironment
• macroenvironment
• microenvironment
• multienvironment
• nanoenvironment
• paleoenvironment, palaeoenvironment
• subenvironment

With suffixes

• environmentability
• environmental

 

Compound words and phrases

• built environment
• desktop environment
• environment division
• environment-friendly
• environment variable
• player versus environment
• space environment
• working environment

 

Related terms

• environ
• environmentalism
• environmentalist

 

Translations

area around something

• Afrikaans: omgewing (af)
• Albanian: mjedis (sq)
• Arabic: بِيئَة (ar) f (bīʔa), مُحِيط (ar) m (muḥīṭ)
• Armenian: շրջապատ (hy) (šrǰapat), միջավայր (hy) (miǰavayr)
• Azerbaijani: mühit (az), şərait (az)
• Bashkir: тирә-яҡ (tirə-yaq), әйләнә-тирә (əylənə-tirə), ара (ara)
• Belarusian: асяро́ддзе n (asjaróddzje)
• Bikol Central: palibot (bcl)
• Bulgarian: окръже́ние n (okrǎžénie), среда́ (bg) f (sredá)
• Catalan: medi (ca) m, ambient (ca) m, entorn (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 環境／环境 (zh) (huánjìng)

• Czech: prostředí (cs) n, okolí (cs) n
• Danish: miljø n, omgivelser c pl
• Dutch: omgeving (nl) c
• Esperanto: ĉirkaŭaĵo
• Estonian: keskkond
• Finnish: ympäristö (fi)
• French: environnement (fr) m
• Galician: ambiente (gl) m
• Georgian: გარემო (garemo), გარემოცვა (garemocva), გარესამყარო (garesamq̇aro)
• German: Umgebung (de) f, Umwelt (de) f
• Greek: περιβάλλον (el) n (perivállon)
• Haitian Creole: anviwònman
• Hebrew: סְבִיבָה (he) f (s'vivá)
• Hindi: पर्यावरण m (paryāvraṇ)
• Hungarian: környezet (hu), környék (hu)
• Icelandic: umhverfi (is) n
• Indonesian: lingkungan (id)
• Irish: timpeallacht f
• Italian: ambiente (it) m
• Japanese: 環境 (ja) (かんきょう, kankyō)
• Kazakh: айнала (ainala), орта (orta)
• Korean: 환경(環境) (ko) (hwan'gyeong)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: hawir (ku) f, hawirdor (ku) f

• Kyrgyz: чөйрө (ky) (cöyrö)
• Latvian: vide f
• Lithuanian: aplinka (lt) f
• Macedonian: средина f (sredina)
• Malay: persekitaran
• Maori: taiao
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: miljø (no) n

• Persian:

  Iranian Persian: مُحیط (fa) (mohit), پیرامون (fa) (pirâmun)

• Polish: środowisko (pl) n
• Portuguese: meio (pt) m, ambiente (pt) m, arredores (pt) pl
• Romanian: mediu (ro) n, ambient (ro) n, mediu ambiant n
• Russian: среда́ (ru) f (sredá), окружа́ющая среда́ (ru) f (okružájuščaja sredá), окруже́ние (ru) n (okružénije)
• Sanskrit: अम्बर (sa) n (ambara)
• Scottish Gaelic: àrainneachd f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: о̀колина f, окруже́ње n

  Roman: òkolina (sh) f, okružénje (sh) n

• Slovak: prostredie n
• Slovene: okolje (sl) n, okolica f
• Spanish: ambiente (es), medio (es), entorno (es)
• Swahili: mazingira (sw) class ma
• Swedish: miljö (sv) c, natur (sv) c, omgivning (sv) c
• Tajik: муҳит (muhit)
• Tatar: мохит (tt) (moxit)
• Telugu: పర్యావరణం (te) (paryāvaraṇaṁ)
• Turkish: çevre (tr)
• Ukrainian: середо́вище (uk) n (seredóvyšče)
• Urdu: ماحَول m (māhaul)
• Uyghur: مۇھىت (muhit)
• Uzbek: muhit (uz)
• Vietnamese: môi trường (vi)
• Yiddish: סבֿיבֿה f (svive)

natural world or ecosystem

• Afrikaans: omgewing (af)
• Albanian: mjedis (sq)
• Arabic: بِيئَة (ar) f (bīʔa)
• Armenian: շրջակա միջավայր (hy) (šrǰaka miǰavayr)
• Azerbaijani: ətraf mühit
• Bashkir: тирә-яҡ мөхит (tirə-yaq möxit)
• Belarusian: навако́льнае асяро́ддзе n (navakólʹnaje asjaróddzje)
• Bulgarian: око́лна среда́ f (okólna sredá)
• Burmese: ပတ်ဝန်းကျင် (my) (pat-wan:kyang)
• Catalan: medi ambient (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 環境／环境 (waan⁴ ging²)

  Hokkien: 環境／环境 (zh-min-nan) (khôan-kéng)

  Mandarin: 環境／环境 (zh) (huánjìng)

• Czech: životní prostředí (cs) n
• Danish: miljø n
• Dutch: milieu (nl) n
• Esperanto: medio (eo)
• Estonian: keskkond, elukeskkond
• Finnish: ympäristö (fi)
• French: environnement (fr) m
• Galician: medio ambiente (gl) m
• Georgian: გარემო (garemo)
• German: Umwelt (de) f
• Greek: περιβάλλον (el) n (perivállon)
• Haitian Creole: anviwònman
• Hebrew: סְבִיבָה (he) f (s'vivá)
• Hindi: पर्यावरण m (paryāvraṇ), प्राकृतिक पर्यावरण m (prākŕtik paryāvraṇ)
• Hungarian: környezet (hu)
• Icelandic: umhverfi (is) n
• Indonesian: lingkungan (id)
• Italian: ambiente (it) m
• Japanese: 環境 (ja) (かんきょう, kankyō)
• Kazakh: қоршаған орта (qorşağan orta)
• Khmer: បរិស្ថាន (km) (bɑɑresthaan), មជ្ឈដ្ឋាន (km) (macchĕəʼthaan), បរិយាការ (paʼreyaakaa)
• Korean: 환경(環境) (ko) (hwan'gyeong)
• Lao: ສິ່ງແວດລ້ອມ (sing wǣt lǭm)
• Latin: circumiectum n
• Latvian: dabiska vide f
• Lithuanian: gamtinė aplinka f
• Macedonian: животна средина f (životna sredina)
• Malay: alam sekitar (ms)
• Malayalam: പരിസ്ഥിതി (ml) (paristhiti)
• Maori: aotūroa, taiao
• Persian:

  Iranian Persian: پیرامون (fa) (pirâmun), مُحیطِ زیسْت (mohit-e zist)

• Polish: ekosystem (pl) m, środowisko (pl) n, środowisko przyrodnicze n
• Portuguese: meio ambiente (pt) m
• Romanian: ecosistem (ro) n, mediu ambiant n
• Russian: окружа́ющая среда́ (ru) f (okružájuščaja sredá), экосисте́ма (ru) f (ekosistéma)
• Scottish Gaelic: àrainneachd f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: о̀колина f, екосу́став m, природни околиш m

  Roman: òkolina (sh) f, ekosústav (sh) m, prirodni okoliš m

• Slovak: životné prostredie n
• Slovene: naravno okolje n
• Spanish: medioambiente (es), medio ambiente (es), naturaleza (es), ecosistema (es)
• Swedish: miljö (sv) c, ekosystem (sv) n
• Tajik: муҳити зист (muhiti zist)
• Thai: สิ่งแวดล้อม (th) (sìng-wɛ̂ɛt-lɔ́ɔm)
• Turkish: doğal çevre (tr)
• Ukrainian: навко́лишнє середо́вище (uk) n (navkólyšnje seredóvyšče), довкі́лля n (dovkíllja)
• Urdu: ماحَول m (māhaul), قُدْرَتی ماحَول m (qudratī māhaul)
• Vietnamese: môi trường (vi), môi sinh, môi trường sống

political or social setting, arena or condition

• Afrikaans: omgewing (af)
• Armenian: միջավայր (hy) (miǰavayr)
• Azerbaijani: mühit (az)
• Bashkir: мөхит (möxit)
• Bulgarian: обстано́вка (bg) f (obstanóvka), среда́ (bg) f (sredá)
• Catalan: ambient (ca) m
• Czech: prostředí (cs) n
• Danish: miljø n
• Dutch: milieu (nl)
• Finnish: ympäristö (fi)
• Georgian: გარემო (garemo)
• German: Umfeld (de)
• Greek: περιβάλλον (el) n (perivállon)
• Indonesian: lingkungan (id)
• Irish: timpeallacht f
• Italian: ambiente (it) m
• Japanese: 環境 (ja) (かんきょう, kankyō)
• Korean: 환경(環境) (ko) (hwan'gyeong)
• Persian:

  Iranian Persian: مُحیط (fa) (mohit)

• Polish: środowisko (pl) n
• Portuguese: ambiente (pt) m
• Romanian: ambient (ro), mediu (ro) n, climat (ro) n, ambianță (ro) f
• Russian: среда́ (ru) f (sredá), окруже́ние (ru) n (okružénije), обстано́вка (ru) f (obstanóvka)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: окруже́ње n

  Roman: okružénje (sh) n

• Spanish: ambiente (es), clima (es)
• Swedish: miljö (sv) c

software or hardware on a computer

• Afrikaans: omgewing (af)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 環境／环境 (zh) (huánjìng)

• Czech: prostředí (cs) n
• Danish: miljø n
• Dutch: omgeving (nl) f
• Finnish: ympäristö (fi)
• German: Umgebung (de) f
• Greek: περιβάλλον (el) n (perivállon)
• Italian: ambiente (it) m
• Japanese: 環境 (ja) (かんきょう, kankyō)
• Korean: 환경(環境) (ko) (hwan'gyeong)
• Persian:

  Iranian Persian: اِجْرالان (fa) (ejrâlân)

• Polish: środowisko (pl) n
• Portuguese: ambiente (pt) m
• Romanian: mediu (ro) n, sistem de operare n
• Russian: конфигура́ция (ru) f (konfigurácija), среда́ (ru) f (sredá)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: о̀колина f

  Roman: òkolina (sh) f

• Spanish: sistema operativo (es) m, programa (es) m, medio (es) m, entorno (es) m
• Swedish: miljö (sv) c

References

• “environment”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• environment in Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary, edited by The Keywords Project, Colin MacCabe, Holly Yanacek, 2018.
• “environment”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “environment”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Slovak

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈenvirɔnment]

Noun

environment m inan (declension pattern of dub)

1. environment

   Synonym: prostredie

Declension

Declension of environment

	singular	plural
nominative	environment	environmenty
genitive	environmentu	environmentov
dative	environmentu	environmentom
accusative	environment	environmenty
locative	environmente	environmentoch
instrumental	environmentom	environmentmi

Related terms

• environmentálny (adjective)

Further reading

• “environment”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2024