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environment

n.
US //ɪnˈvaɪɹənmənt// UK //ɛnvˈaɪɹənmənt// en·vi·ron·ment
  1. 1 the natural world (n.)
    A2 Elementary

    the air, water, and land in or on which people, animals, and plants live.

    the natural world, especially as affected by human activity; the complex of physical, chemical, and biotic factors that act upon an organism.

    Example

    We need to do more to protect the environment from pollution.

    Example

    The government's new policy aims to balance industrial growth with the urgent need to preserve the local environment and its biodiversity.
  2. 2 surroundings or conditions (n.)
    B1 Intermediate

    the conditions that you live or work in and the way that they influence how you feel or work.

    the aggregate of social and cultural conditions that influence the life of an individual or community.

    Example

    The company tries to create a friendly working environment for all its employees.

    Example

    Growing up in a multilingual environment often provides children with a natural advantage in cognitive flexibility and language acquisition.
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  1. 3 computing (n.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate Technical Computing

    the set of software and hardware on a computer that allows a program to run.

    the specific configuration of hardware, software, and network protocols in which a particular system or application operates.

    Example

    You need to install the latest updates to your desktop environment.

    Example

    The developers spent the morning migrating the application from the testing environment to the live production server to ensure a smooth launch.
  2. 4 programming variables (n.)
    C1 Advanced Technical Computing

    the set of names and values that a computer program can see while it is running.

    the set of identifiers and their associated bindings available to a function or process during execution.

    Example

    The script failed because the necessary environment variables were not defined.

    Example

    In functional programming, the environment determines how free variables are evaluated within the scope of a specific closure.
Origin

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

Word family

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