Trending: ‘purview’

Lookups spiked 11,000% on July 24, 2019

Why are people looking up purview?

Purview rose to near the top of our lookups on July 24th, 2019, as a result of an appearance in the congressional testimony of Robert Mueller.

Asked about the origins of the Steele dossier, Mueller says repeatedly that it's "outside my purview" #MuellerHearings https://t.co/pjOwNhYtbJ pic.twitter.com/40t4k5QVEc
— CBS News (@CBSNews) July 24, 2019

What does purview mean?

Purview has a number of possible meanings; the one most applicable in this setting is “the range or limit of authority, competence, responsibility, concern, or intention." Other possible meanings of the word include “range of vision, understanding, or cognizance," “the limit, purpose, or scope of a statute,” and “the body or enacting part of a statute."

Where does purview come from?

In use since the 15th century, purview comes to English via statutes written in Anglo-French. These often began with the phrases phrases purveu est and purveu que, (“it is provided" and "provided that”). Purveu may be traced to the Old French verb porveeir, meaning "to provide."

All counsellers, procurers, consenters, or aiders of any the forenamed treasons, are within purview of the statute of 25 Elis. for in treason all offenders are principall.
— Anon. The Complete justice a compendium of the particulars incident to justices of the peace, 1637

Trend Watch is a data-driven report on words people are looking up at much higher search rates than normal. While most trends can be traced back to the news or popular culture, our focus is on the lookup data rather than the events themselves.