purview

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English purveu, also purvewe,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Old French purveu, the Anglo-Norman form,^[5][4][6] corresponding to porveü (“provided”), the past participle of porveeir (“to provide”),^[3][4][7] the source of purvey.^[6][7] The word comes from the opening of clauses in statutes, Anglo-Norman purveu est (“it is provided”) and purveu que (“provided that”),^[8][3][2][7] recorded in Anglo-Norman from the second half of the 13th century.^[5] The OED notes that the use as a noun is apparently not found in French.^[5] The French verb is from Latin prōvideō (“to look ahead, prepare, supply”), from prō (“ahead”) and videō (“to see”), from Proto-Indo-European *weid- (“to see”).^[8] The spelling, and the later senses of scope and outlook, were influenced by view.^[5][8][6][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

In law, a provisional clause in a statute, a proviso: 1442, in the Rolls of Parliament.^[5][3] This sense was rare after Middle English and is now obsolete.^[5]

Semantic evolution

From 1461 the word meant the body of a statute, its enacting clauses as opposed to the preamble, and so what a statute provides and its scope.^[5][2][7] Johnson (1755) still defined it as a proviso or providing clause.^[10] The extended sense, the scope or limits of anything, is recorded from 1688,^[5] and Etymonline cites Madison in the Federalist (1788) for "scope, extent".^[8] From 1751 it also meant the range of physical or mental vision, outlook or experience.^[5] The OED and Etymonline attribute these later senses partly to association with view.^[5][8] Weekley gives the phrase within the purview of as the modern use.^[9]

Timeline

• 1442 – a proviso in a statute (obsolete).^[5][3]
• 1461 – the body of a statute; what it provides, its scope.^[5][2]
• 1688 – the scope or limits of anything; remit.^[5] Etymonline dates this sense to 1788, in the Federalist.^[8]
• 1751 – range of vision or thought; outlook.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. The range of authority, responsibility or concern of a person or body: Food safety falls within the agency's purview.^[4][11][5]
2. The range of outlook, vision or understanding.^[4][11][5]
3. (law) The body of a statute, containing its enacting clauses, as distinct from the preamble.^[4][11][5]
4. (law) The scope or intended reach of a statute.^[4][5]
5. (obsolete, 1442–1755) A provisional clause in a statute; a proviso.^[5][10][2]

Related words

• purvey
• provide
• proviso
• provision
• view
• purveyor

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
7. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
10. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
11. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins