view definition

English view definition

Etymology

From Middle English vewe, from Anglo-Norman vewe, from Old French veue f (French vue f), feminine past participle of veoir (“to see”) (French voir). Cognate with Italian vedere, as well as Portuguese and Spanish ver. Doublet of veduta. Doublet of vista.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vjuː/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uː

Noun

view (plural views)

1. (physical) Visual perception.
   1. The act of seeing or looking at something.

      He changed seats to get a complete view of the stage.

      • 1671, John Milton, “The Fourth Book”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J. M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC:

        Thenceforth I thought thee worth my nearer view.

      • 1689 (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. […], London: […] Eliz[abeth] Holt, for Thomas Basset, […], →OCLC:

        , Book II, Chapter XXI

        Objects near our view are apt to be thought greater than those of a larger size are more remote.

      • 1959, Georgette Heyer, chapter 1, in The Unknown Ajax:

        But Richmond […] appeared to lose himself in his own reflections. Some pickled crab, which he had not touched, had been removed with a damson pie; and his sister saw, peeping around the massive silver epergne that almost obscured him from her view, that he had eaten no more than a spoonful of that either.

   2. The range of vision.

      Synonyms: sight, eyeshot

      If there are any rabbits in this park, they keep carefully out of our view.

      • 1697, Virgil, “(please specify the book number)”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:

        The walls of Pluto's palace are in view.

   3. Something to look at, such as scenery.

      Synonym: vista

      My flat has a view of a junkyard.

      the view from a window

      • 1799, Thomas Campbell, The Pleasures of Hope:

        'Tis distance lends enchantment to the view.

      • 1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 20:

        "Well, there don't seem to be any what you might call views about here," he agreed. […] "I've been through the Willawee Ranges forty miles west of here, and I can guarantee the views there."

   4. (Internet) An individual viewing of a web page or a video etc. by a user.

      Synonyms: (of a webpage) pageview, (of a video) play

   5. (obsolete) Appearance; show; aspect.
      • c. 1648, Edmund Waller, The Night-Piece:

        [Graces] which, by the splendor of her view / Dazzled, before we never knew.

2. A picture, drawn or painted; a sketch.

   a fine view of Lake George

3. An opinion, judgement, imagination, idea or belief.
   1. A mental image.

      I need more information to get a better view of the situation.

      • c. 1602, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene v]:

        I have with exact view perused thee, Hector.

   3. A way of understanding something, an opinion, a theory.

      Your view on evolution is based on religious doctrines, not on scientific findings.

      • 1689 (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], chapter 2, in An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. […], London: […] Eliz[abeth] Holt, for Thomas Basset, […], →OCLC, book I, page 21:

        to give a right view of this mistaken part of liberty

      • 2019 May 30, Karen Weintraub, “Crispr gene-editing will change the way Americans eat – here's what's coming”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

        There hasn’t been much polling data on consumer views of gene-edited foods, because they are still so new.

   4. A point of view.

      From my view that is a stupid proposition.

   5. An intention or prospect.

      He smuggled a knife into prison with a view to using it as a weapon.

      • a. 1705, John Locke, “Of the Conduct of the Understanding”, in Posthumous Works of Mr. John Locke: […], London: […] A[wnsham] and J[ohn] Churchill, […], published 1706, →OCLC:

        No man ever sets himself about anything but upon some view or other which serves him for a reason for what he does

      • 1903, Henry Kelsall Aspinall, Birkenhead and Its Surroundings, page 116:

        With this view, they made a Guy Faux, or dummy figure of a boy, dressed in coat and cap; such as might in a poor light be mistaken for a living figure.

4. (computing, databases) A virtual or logical table composed of the result set of a query in relational databases.
5. (computing, programming) The part of a computer program which is visible to the user and can be interacted with
6. A wake. (Can we add an example for this sense?)

Antonyms

• (part of computer program): model, controller

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Verb

view (third-person singular simple present views, present participle viewing, simple past and past participle viewed)

1. (transitive) To look at.

   The video was viewed by millions of people.

   • 2013 June 14, Jonathan Freedland, “Obama's once hip brand is now tainted”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 1, page 18:

     Where we once sent love letters in a sealed envelope, or stuck photographs of our children in a family album, now such private material is despatched to servers and clouds operated by people we don't know and will never meet. Perhaps we assume that our name, address and search preferences will be viewed by some unseen pair of corporate eyes, probably not human, and don't mind that much.

2. (transitive) To regard in a stated way.

   I view it as a serious breach of trust.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:deem

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• see
• look
• voyeur

Anagrams

• wive

Middle English view definition

Noun

view

1. Alternative form of vewe

Portuguese view definition

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English view.

Pronunciation

• Homophone: viu

Noun

view f (plural views)

1. (databases) view (logical table formed from data from physical tables)

   Synonym: visão

2. (Internet) view (individual viewing of a web page or a video by a user)

   Synonym: visualização