Purview

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈpɜː(ɹ)vjuː/

Definitions

1. The area of knowledge or concern that defines what is included or excluded in discussions or decisions
2. The range of authority or context that determines what falls under consideration or jurisdiction
3. The range within which someone or something has authority or interest ; the limits of control or responsibility granted by law or official rules

Etymology: Lawyers once used "purview" for a single clause of a statute, not for the power a law grants. The word began in Middle English as "purveu", a shortened form of Anglo-Norman phrases such as "purveu est", meaning "it is provided", which introduced the conditions set out in a legal enactment. Those phrases came from the Old French "porveü", the past participle of "porveoir", meaning "to provide", and ultimately from the Latin "prōvideō", the source of English "provide". Over time the sense widened from the proviso itself to the whole scope of what a statute covered, and then to the range of anything within someone's authority or concern. The spelling was also reshaped by association with "view", a change that made the word look as though it described a field of sight, which is part of how "purview" came to suggest the limits of what one can see or oversee.

Synonyms: scope, range, extent

Antonyms: limit, boundary