different between environ vs embarrass

English

Etymology

From Middle English [Term?], from Old French enviruner, environner (“to surround”), from environ (“around”), from en (“in”) + viron (“a turn”), from virer (“to turn, veer”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?n?va?.??n/, /?n?va?.??n/
• Rhymes: -a???n

Noun

environ (plural environs)

1. (especially in plural) A surrounding area

Verb

environ (third-person singular simple present environs, present participle environing, simple past and past participle environed)

1. To encircle, to surround.
   • a. 1631, John Donne, Elegy XII: His Parting from Her

     Environ me with darkness whilst I write.

   • 1673, John Milton, “I did but prompt the age to quit their cloggs”:

     I did but prompt the age to quit their cloggs

     By the known rules of antient libertie,

     When strait a barbarous noise environs me

     Of Owles and Cuckoes, Asses, Apes and Doggs.

Related terms

• environment

Translations

Further reading

• environ in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• environ in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• environ at OneLook Dictionary Search

French

Etymology

From en (“in”) + viron (“a turn”), from virer (“to turn, veer”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??.vi.???/

Adverb

environ

1. about, close to, around

Noun

environ m (plural environs)

1. (especially in plural) a surrounding area

Related terms

• environnement

Further reading

• “environ” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• innover

Middle French

Adverb

environ

1. about; around; roughly
2. around

Occitan

Adverb

environ

1. about, around, approximately

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French embarrasser (“to block, to obstruct”), from Spanish embarazar, from Portuguese embaraçar, from em- (“in”) (from Latin im-) + baraço (“noose, rope”), the latter ultimately being from Akkadian ???? (KEŠDA /rak?su/, “to tie”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?m?bæ.??s/
• (Mary–marry–merry merger) IPA^(key): /?m?b???s/
• Rhymes: -ær?s

Verb

embarrass (third-person singular simple present embarrasses, present participle embarrassing, simple past and past participle embarrassed)

1. (transitive) to humiliate; to disrupt somebody's composure or comfort with acting publicly or freely; to disconcert; to abash

2. (transitive) To hinder from liberty of movement; to impede; to obstruct.
3. (transitive) To involve in difficulties concerning money matters; to encumber with debt; to beset with urgent claims or demands.

Synonyms

• (humiliate): abash, discomfit, disconcert, humiliate, shame
• See also Thesaurus:abash

Derived terms

• embarrassment

Translations

Further reading

• embarrass in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• embarrass in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• “embarrass”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–present.

References

• “embarrass” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.