ETYM Cf. French environnement.
In ecology, the sum of conditions affecting a particular organism, including physical surroundings, climate, and influences of other living organisms. See also biosphere and habitat.
In common usage, “the environment” often means the total global environment, without reference to any particular organism. In genetics, it is the external influences that affect an organism’s development, and thus its phenotype.
1. The area in which something exists or lives; SYN. environs, surroundings, surround.
2. The totality of surrounding conditions.

1. The configuration of resources available to the user. Environment refers to the hardware and the operating system running on it. For example, Windows and Macintosh are called windowing environments because they are based on screen regions called windows.
2. In microcomputing, environment refers to a definition of the specifications, such as command path, that a program operates in.