environ French · revision 16949

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=late 10th century, Passion de Clermont|origins=la vibro}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ɑ̃.vi.ʁɔ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''environ'''^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|evirum]] (late 10th century), [[m|fro|envirun]] (about 1100); remade as ''environ'' in the 12th century.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed from [[en-]] and Old French [[m|fro|viron|t=turn, circle]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Wiktionary)^(FEW|14, 388b) a noun derived from [[virer]] “to turn” but attested only from about 1225, much later than the adverb itself.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) That verb comes from [[la-lat|*vīrō]], from [[la|vibrō|t=to make whirl]] by dissimilation of the labials.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Compare [[entour]].^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ Compare [[pro|environ]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Passion'' of Clermont (late 10th century) has the adverb ''evirum'' “round about”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ As a preposition, “around, near”, it is in the ''Chanson de Roland'': ''Envirun lui plus de vint milie humes'' (“around him more than twenty thousand men”).^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873) That use survives only in literary style of time (1340), as in ''environ cette époque''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007) The adverb took the sense “approximately” in 1273, now its usual meaning for times, distances, quantities and prices.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+

+ The noun is first found in ''tout à l'environ'' (about 1280), then in the plural about 1460: ''les environs'', “the surroundings”, and ''aux environs de'' (1552, of a place), criticized when used of time.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) The verb [[environner]] is recorded as a participle about 1165, “arranged in a circle”, and as “to surround” about 1265.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 10th century – Adverb ''evirum'' “round about”.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1100 – Preposition “around”, in the ''Chanson de Roland''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1165 – ''Environné''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1273 – “Approximately”.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1280 – ''Tout à l'environ''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1460 – ''Les environs''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1552 – ''Aux environs de''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adverb===

+ # [[m|en|about|alt=About]], approximately, around: ''il y a environ deux ans'', ''un homme d'environ cinquante ans''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Preposition===

+ # ''(literary)'' About, around (a time): ''environ cette époque''; formerly also near (a place).^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''Les environs'' (plural): the surroundings, the surrounding area, ''aux environs de'', near, in the neighbourhood of.^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[environner]]

+ * [[environnement]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[virer]]

+ * [[entour]]

+ * [[alentour]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}