Etymologically
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environmental

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 20:29. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ɪnˌvaɪ.rənˈmen.təl/, US /enˌvaɪ.rənˈmen.t̬əl/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English environment + -al.[2][3] It is related to environ.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

“Environing, surrounding”, of or pertaining to environments: 1887 in Etymonline and the OED;[2][4] the adverb environmentally is recorded earlier, in 1884.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

The ecological sense, concerned with the conservation of the natural environment, is from 1967 in Etymonline[2] and the late 20th century in the SOED.[3] The OED has environmental engineer from about 1962,[4] environmental audit from 1971,[4] environmentally sensitive area, first North American, from 1974,[4] and environmentally friendly, not harmful to the environment, from 1984.[4]

Timeline

  • 1884 – environmentally.[2][4]
  • 1887 – of the surroundings.[2][4]
  • c. 1962 – environmental engineer.[4]
  • 1967 – ecological.[2]
  • 1984 – environmentally friendly.[4]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Of, relating to or associated with the environment.
  2. Concerned with the effects of human activity on the natural environment, or with its conservation.
  3. Of harmful factors that come from the environment: environmental diseases.

Word family

  • environmentally
  • bioenvironmental
  • environmentalism
  • environmentalist
  • nonenvironmental
  • proenvironmental
  • environmental science

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press