ENVIRONMENT°

noun (Environment) Usually with the definite article, as the environment: the sum of the physical surroundings in which people live; especially, the natural world viewed as a unified whole with a pre-ordained interrelationship and balance among the parts which must be conserved. Hence sometimes used in an extended sense: conservation of the natural world; ecology. Etymology: A specialized use of environment, which literally means 'surroundings', and had been used in the sense of the particular set of physical features surrounding a person or thing since the early nineteenth century. History and Usage: This sense of environment, which in the late eighties and early nineties has been the dominant general sense, grew out of the concern about the natural world--particularly the effects upon it of industrialization and pollution--which was first expressed in any concerted way in the sixties. By the early seventies, some governments were taking enough notice of these concerns to appoint a Minister (or Secretary ) for the Environment (colloquially environment minister, secretary); but the real vogue for this word only came in the second half of the eighties, after green politics took off in Europe and politicians in general realized that the environment promised to be the central political concern of the nineties. From the late eighties onwards, environment was frequently used in combinations, too, the most important being environment-friendly (see -friendly). The playfully formed opposite of this is environment-unfriendly (see unfriendlyÜ) or environment-hostile; other combinations include environment-conscious(ness) and environment-minded(ness). President Bush said that the environment was now on the 'front burner' and that no other subject, except the anti-drugs campaign, had aroused such fervour among his summit colleagues. Guardian 17 July 1989, p. 20 A campaign is being launched to encourage sustainable development within our cities. The status 'Environment City' will be awarded to the four coming nearest to the ideal. Natural World Spring/Summer 1990, p. 7 We have to have a government-backed labelling scheme before consumers throw up their hands in horror and revert to their old 'environment-hostile' ways. She Aug. 1990, p. 122