purview

noun

pur·view ˈpər-ˌvyü

Synonyms of purview next

: the body or enacting part of a statute

: the limit, purpose, or scope of a statute

: the range or limit of authority, competence, responsibility, concern, or intention

: range of vision, understanding, or cognizance

Did you know?

It may not be illogical to assume a connection between purview and view, but is there one? Not exactly. Although the two words share a syllable, you’ll find that they have very different histories as viewed in the etymological rearview mirror. Purview comes from purveu, a word often found in the legal statutes of 13th- and 14th-century England. These statutes, written in Anglo-French, regularly open with the phrase purveu est, which translates literally to "it is provided." Purveu in turn comes from porveu, the past participle of the Old French verb porveeir, meaning "to provide." View, on the other hand, comes (via Middle English) from the past participle of another Anglo-French word, veer, meaning "to see," and ultimately from the Latin word vidēre, of the same meaning.

Examples of purview in a Sentence

After the true shock and awe of a campaign of massive surplus, as in the Gulf War, no regime would have risked its survival by failing to go after the terrorists within its purview. —

Mark Helprin, Wall Street Journal, 17 May 2004

It is the use of informal, back channels outside public or congressional purview—designed partly to thwart publicity and partly to hold down the temperature of disputes within the government—that critics say denies the protections of open government. —

Bob Woodward et al., Washington Post, 20-26 Jan. 1992

… the contemporary university, though, has reached beyond the purview of education, and it has thereby become entangled in problems it lacks the means to resolve. —

Louis Menand, Harper's, December 1991

The case is within the court's purview. That question is outside my purview. The moral dilemmas of the early settlers are beyond the purview of this book.

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

The prosecution objected to the order as plaintiffs in civil litigation against Combs are outside the purview of the criminal court, according to the news outlet. —

Demicia Inman, VIBE.com, 4 Nov. 2024 That, too, falls under Jackson’s purview, everything from the fountain outside the office entrance to the facility’s massive internal water treatment facility, which will handle the equivalent of a 90,000-person town’s wastewater. —

Austin Corona, The Arizona Republic, 4 Nov. 2024 Prosecutors have objected to such a gag order, in part because plaintiffs in civil litigation against Combs are outside the purview of the criminal court. —

Aaron Katersky, ABC News, 3 Nov. 2024 In addition to his new responsibilities, Lieber will maintain oversight of ongoing genre series that have been under his purview, including The Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power, which films in the UK, Fallout, The Wheel of Time, and The Boys. —

Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 4 Nov. 2024 See all Example Sentences for purview