environment

All living and nonliving components by which an organism is surrounded and affected; the external conditions, resources, stimuli etc. with which an organism interacts. The totality of the surrounding external conditions—biological, chemical, and physical—within which an organism, community, or object exists. The term is not exclusive in that organisms can be and usually are part of another organism’s environment. Thus one can speak of the environment as that within which humankind lives, i.e., separate and external; or, one can speak of humankind as a component of the environment.

Authorization Path: 2.5.6.4.24.0