Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Environment \En*vi"ron*ment\, n. [Cf. F. environnement.]
   1. Act of environing; state of being environed.

   2. That which environs or surrounds; surrounding conditions,
      influences, or forces, by which living forms are
      influenced and modified in their growth and development.

            It is no friendly environment, this of thine.
                                                  --Carlyle.

Source : WordNet®

environment
     n 1: the totality of surrounding conditions; "he longed for the
          comfortable environment of his livingroom"
     2: the area in which something exists or lives; "the
        country--the flat agricultural surround" [syn: {environs},
         {surroundings}, {surround}]

Source : Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing

environment
     
        {environment variable}