environ

environ — verb

  • environpresent simple I / you / we / they
  • environs3rd person singular
  • environing-ing form
  • environedpast simple

1. to surround something or someone completely, forming a circle or barrier around

1.verbtransitiveC2
Definition

to surround something or someone completely, forming a circle or barrier around them

Example

Mathieu's cottage was environed by tall pine trees on every side.

passive: be environed by + [natural feature]

A dense bamboo grove environed Devika's garden, giving it complete privacy.

Common collocations
  • environed by [natural feature] (mountains, forest, trees, hills, vineyards, bamboo, hedges)
  • environed by [structure] (walls, fences, moats, ditches)
  • environ [place] (village, cottage, garden, temple, courtyard, house)
Synonyms
  • surround

    the common, everyday equivalent; 'environ' is its formal and literary counterpart

  • encircle

    emphasises the shape of a ring or circle around something

  • encompass

    broader in meaning; can include both physical surrounding and abstract inclusion

  • enclose

    suggests a barrier that closes something in, often with walls or fencing

Grammar Patterns

be environed by [something]

environ + [place]

Usage Note

Frequently appears in the passive voice (be environed by) in literary or formal writing. Much less common in everyday speech than the synonym 'surround'.

Common Mistakes

The garden environed the house.
The house was environed by the garden.
'environ' is almost always used in the passive voice; the active construction sounds unnatural.
The crowd environed the singer.
The crowd surrounded the singer.
for people or crowds, 'surround' is the natural choice; 'environ' is reserved for places, buildings, and landscapes.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

Surround is the everyday, neutral word for being on all sides of something ('the crowd surrounded the car'). Encircle specifically suggests a ring-like shape, often with deliberate or military intent ('soldiers encircled the camp'). Encompass is broader and can be physical or abstract — it can mean 'surround' but also 'include' or 'cover' ('the course encompasses several topics'). Enclose implies a physical barrier that shuts something in ('the garden is enclosed by a brick wall'). Environ sits at the most formal end of this set; it appears almost exclusively in literary descriptions of landscapes, buildings, or settings ('the castle was environed by a misty forest'). In everyday writing, 'surround' is almost always the better choice.

surround ↗encircle ↗encompass ↗enclose ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • on all sides
  • on every side

Prepositions

Etymology

Old FrenchAnglo-NormanMiddle EnglishModern English

From Old French enviruner ('to surround, to enclose'), derived from environ ('around, about'). The root is viron ('circle, circuit'), from virer ('to turn, to go about'). English adopted it in the 14th century as a formal alternative to 'surround'. The later noun environment (c. 1600s, 'state of being environed') came to mean 'surroundings' in the 19th century.