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environment

noun

Simple meaning

The natural world or ecosystem.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

ihnvyruhnmuhnt

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ɪnˈvaɪɹənmənt

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. The natural world or ecosystem.

  2. The surroundings of, and influences on, a particular item of interest.

  3. All the elements that affect a system or its inputs and outputs.

  4. A particular political or social setting, arena or condition.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
A1 · Beginner (estimated)
Frequency
Very Common
Typical Use
General English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: The natural world or ecosystem.

Used this way, environment is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

work environmentlearning environmentnatural environmentphysical environmentexternal environmentnew environmentmarine environmentbusiness environment

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Related words

Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.

  • environmentallyadverbRelated term

    For the environment.

  • environmentalismnounRelated term

    The philosophical doctrine that environment is more important than heredity in determining intellectual growth.

  • environmentalistnounRelated term

    Someone who works to protect the environment from destruction or pollution.

  • environmental sciencenounRelated term

    The branch of biology concerned with the relations between organisms and their environment.

  • environmental protection agencynounRelated term

    An independent federal agency established to coordinate programs aimed at reducing pollution and protecting the environment.

  • council on environmental policynounRelated term

    The executive agency that advises the President on protecting the environment.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.