environs vs element

environs and element both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
environs	Yes	No	No	No
element	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, element is a hyponym of environs; that is, element is a word with a more specific, narrower meaning than environs:

Other hyponyms of environs include ambiance, ambience, medium, scene, setting, habitat, home ground, melting pot, parts.

environs (noun)	element (noun)
the area in which something exists or lives	an artifact that is one of the individual parts of which a composite entity is made up; especially a part that can be separated from or attached to a system
an outer adjacent area of any place	an abstract part of something
	the most favorable environment for a plant or animal
	a straight line that generates a cylinder or cone
	the situation in which you are happiest and most effective
	any of the more than 100 known substances (of which 92 occur naturally) that cannot be separated into simpler substances and that singly or in combination constitute all matter
	one of four substances thought in ancient and medieval cosmology to constitute the physical universe