Entry Word: environs

Function: noun plural

Meaning: 1 the area around a city <the city and its environs total about a million in population>

Synonyms exurbia, outskirts, purlieu, suburbia

Related Words backwater, backwoods, hinterland

2 the circumstances, conditions, or objects by which one is surrounded <growing up in the environs of the inner city wasnʼt easy, but he was determined to make something of himself> — see environment