Etymology

environment

E1N1V4I1R1O1N1M3E1N1T1

Today it means: The surroundings of, and influences on, a particular item of interest. Full definition →

Middle French environnement ← Old French environ ← Vulgar Latin *virāre
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₁én
  2. Proto-Italic*en
  3. Old Latinen
  4. Latinin
  5. Old Frenchen
  6. Latinvibrāre?
  7. Vulgar Latin*virāre
  8. Old Frenchvirer
  9. Old Frenchviron
  10. Old Frenchenviron
  11. Middle Frenchenviron
  12. Middle Frenchenvironner
  13. Middle Frenchenvironnement
  14. English todayenvironment

From Middle French environnement. Compare French environnement. By surface analysis, environ + -ment.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.