environs
\ en-VAHY-ruhnz, -VAHY-ernz, EN-ver-uhnz, -vahy-ernz \, noun;
1.the surrounding parts or districts, as of a city; outskirts; suburbs.
2.surrounding objects; surroundings; environment.
3.an area or space close by; vicinity.
Quotes:
On the Saturday afternoons the inhabitants of New Rochelle harnessed their horses to their carts, to convey the women and little ones, and the men in the prime of life walked all the distance to New York, camping out in their carts in the environs of the city through the night...
-- Elizabeth Gaskell, "Traits and Stories of the Huguenots," 1853
At the same hour that Narcisse and his companions entered the sombre and suspicious looking dwelling, the advocate returned to his home in the upper environs of the city, wearied in mind and frame…
-- Charles Heavysege, "The Advocate ," 1865
Origin:
Environs came to English in the mid-1600s from the Old French word meaning "around."
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