environmentallyadv.
/ᵻnˌvʌɪrə(n)ˈmɛntl̩i/, /ᵻnˌvʌɪrn̩ˈmɛntl̩i/, /ɛnˌvʌɪrə(n)ˈmɛntl̩i/, /ɛnˌvʌɪrn̩ˈmɛntl̩i/, /ᵻnˌvʌɪrə(n)ˈmɛntəli/, /ᵻnˌvʌɪrn̩ˈmɛntəli/, /ɛnˌvʌɪrə(n)ˈmɛntəli/, /ɛnˌvʌɪrn̩ˈmɛntəli/, U.S. /ənˌvaɪrə(n)ˈmɛn(t)l̩i/, /ənˌvaɪ(ə)rnˈmɛn(t)l̩i/, /ɛnˌvaɪrə(n)ˈmɛn(t)l̩i/, /ɛnˌvaɪ(ə)rnˈmɛn(t)l̩i/ 1. With reference to or by means of one's surroundings, physical context, or particular environment.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > surrounding > [adverb] > with reference to one's or the surroundings
environmentally1884
1884 Mind July 338 Environmentally-initiated Sensations are classified according to the nature of the agent by which they are aroused.
1928 Daily Tel. 21 Aug. 13/1 If you cannot indict a nation, neither can you fully describe a nation, environmentally or spiritually.
1965 Language 41 277 An environmentally conditioned allophone of terminal fade.
1989 Jrnl. Zool. 219 297 Confounding effects of terrestrial temperatures..obscure environmentally adaptive patterns..which would be predicted on the basis of hypothesized advantages of large size for heat retention.
2005 Heredity 95 94/2 The first, best-studied and probably most-accepted case of environmentally induced, heritable, and..measurable genome size variation.
2. With reference to the natural environment, esp. to its integrity or protection against the harmful effects of human activity.
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1970 N.Y. Times 2 Mar. 18 The movement [sc. Friends of the Earth] is running advertisements from the United Auto Workers and other environmentally minded labour unions.
1989 P. Cloke Rural Land-use Planning in Developed Nations ii. 32 In the long term, legislation and ‘education’ were seen as the only certain ways of fostering more environmentally-caring attitudes.
1996 Cycle Touring & Campaigning Apr.–May 25/3 This goes directly against the Royal Commission's guidelines for traffic reduction, and makes no sense environmentally.
2007 Independent 26 July 32/2 As a symbol of environmentally damaging wastefulness, a patio heater is pretty hard to beat.
Compounds
environmentally friendly adj. (esp. of a product or process) designed, produced, or operating in a way that minimizes harm to the natural environment; (of a person, organization, industry, etc.) adopting measures that minimize harm to the environment; not harmful to the environment; (cf. friendly adj. 7c).
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the world > action or operation > safety > [adjective] > safe or not dangerous > safe or harmless > to the environment
environmentalist1968
environmentally sound1969
environmentally friendly1971
friendly1971
low-impact1972
sustainable1976
environmental1977
environmental friendly1977
sustainability1980
eco-sensitive1982
environment-friendly1982
nature-friendly1984
ozone-friendly1988
earth-friendly1989
eco-friendly1989
1971 Guardian 18 Nov. 5 Encourage the use of ‘the healthy and environmentally friendly bicycle’.
1984 Christian Sci. Monitor 6 Apr. 9/3 The factory means jobs. There is no factory without emissions. It just has to be as environmentally friendly as possible.
1990 Health Guardian May–June 6/2 She's now an environmentally-friendly housewife and mother who makes regular trips to the bottle bank en-route to shopping for organic vegetables.
2009 Guardian 25 Apr. (Money section) 2/5 Not sure how environmentally friendly smoke from a chimenea is.
environmentally sensitive adj. (a) (of an object, organism, etc.) responsive or reactive to its surroundings; (b) vulnerable to destruction by human activity such as unrestricted development, or agricultural or industrial practices (see environmentally sensitive area n.); (c) environmentally friendly; (of a person, organization, etc.) aware of the need to protect the integrity of the environment against the harmful effects of human activity.
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1936 Science 17 Jan. 57/2 The unproved concept that deviations in reactivity to or production of such an ubiquitous and environmentally sensitive chemical group as the sulfhydryl should be subject to or even determined by genetic factors.
1971 Ukiah (Calif.) Daily Jrnl. 4 Feb. 5/8 Licenses should not be granted for power plant construction..until the state legislature has established a coastal conservation and development commission to zone the coastline and determine which areas are environmentally sensitive.
1980 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 28 Sept. 21/3 You live in a solar house and you become environmentally sensitive and thus socially sensitive.
1998 New Scientist 13 June 85/1 (advt.) Composting of bio-solids as an alternative method for more environmentally sensitive disposal.
2006 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 19 Oct. 36/1 [This] might set a precedent for corporate control of other environmentally sensitive public lands.
environmentally sensitive area n. an area whose wildlife (esp. rare species) or other significant features of its ecosystem are vulnerable to destruction by human activity such as unrestricted development, or agricultural or industrial practices; spec. (originally North American) one so designated for grant-aided protection.
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1972 Sun (Flagstaff, Arizona) 24 Mar. 6/5 Opponents of the line rejected an offer by Tucson Gas and Electric Co. to make some modifications in the line's route to avoid an environmentally sensitive area south of Gallup.
1990 Birds Summer 17/1 The Somerset Levels..are drying out... This is despite..their classification as an Environmentally Sensitive Area which provides cash payments to farmers to manage their land in a traditional way.
2005 B. G. Boniface & C. P. Cooper Worldwide Destinations Casebk. 90 This case examines the New Forest:—an environmentally sensitive area with a unique landscape in Hampshire in the south of England.
environmentally sound adj. in accordance with environmentalist principles; environmentally friendly.
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1969 Hartford (Connecticut) Courant 7 June 22 The petitioners..placed the responsibility of deciding whether the opening of an oil field is environmentally sound on the government.
1981 Times 13 May 8/7 He believes that the cost of environmentally-sound policies are generally more than balanced by the benefits achieved.
2007 M. J. Lynch Big Prisons, Big Dreams viii. 213 Building new, environmentally sound and energy efficient prisons is only one step.
environmentally unfriendly adj. (of a product, process, etc.) designed, produced, or operating in a way that causes, or does not minimize, harm to the natural environment; (of a person, organization, etc.) adopting measures that cause, or do not minimize, harm to the natural environment; cf. environmentally friendly adj.
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1988 M. K. Hinkle in Pesticide Registration Fees: Hearings before Subcomm. on Energy & Agric. (100th U.S. Congr., 1st Sess., House: Small Business Comm.) 127 A fee schedule should be geared..to encourage development of environmentally friendly chemicals and weighted against environmentally unfriendly chemicals.
1996 Backpacker Apr. 124/2 With the current environmentally unfriendly Congress..the price will be paid by future generations.
2009 D. Lebovitz Sweet Life in Paris 52 The city of Paris has been making a big push to get Parisians to use less of those environmentally unfriendly plastic bottles.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2011; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adv.1884