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
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.
Keith M. Phaneuf, Hartford Courant, 4 Mar. 2025
At the time, the INS fell under the purview of the Labor Department and thus Perkins’ leadership.
—Rebecca Brenner Graham / Made By History, TIME, 4 Mar. 2025
Expanding the purview of IRS-CI could be especially challenging now, in the midst of layoffs ordered by President Trump.
—Elaine Maag, Forbes, 27 Feb. 2025
Each of these efforts were made under the purview of Gascón, who seized on growing social media support for the brothers to advocate for their resentencing.
—Elizabeth Wolfe, CNN, 27 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for purview
Cite this Entry
“Purview.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/purview. Accessed 12 Mar. 2025.
Copy CitationLegal Definition
purview
noun
Anglo-French purveu est it is provided (opening phrase of a statute)
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