View

How to spell view

4 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce view

What does view mean?

1. nounThe range of what can be seen from a particular place, or the scene itself.
2. nounA considered opinion or way of thinking about a matter.
3. verbTo look at, inspect, or regard something in a particular way.

View in a sentence

• noun

  The hotel room offered a stunning view of the harbour.

• noun

  In my view, the budget needs a complete overhaul.

• verb

  Buyers can view the property by appointment on weekdays.

• noun

  A tall hedge blocked the view from the kitchen window.

• noun

  The report set out the committee's view on the merger.

• verb

  Many people view the decision as a mistake.

Where does view come from?

Language of origin: French

View comes from the Anglo-French and Old French word veue, meaning 'a sight' or 'the act of seeing', which was the feminine past participle of veoir, 'to see'. That verb descends directly from the Latin videre, meaning 'to see', the same root that gives us 'video', 'vision', and 'visible'. English adopted the word in the 1400s, first for the simple act of looking and for the scene that lies open before the eye. From there the meaning broadened to cover a mental picture or considered opinion, as when someone states a point of view. The unusual '-iew' spelling preserves the French ending and is the very part that trips writers, since the sound does not obviously call for that order of vowels.

How the word is built

• vi- (from Latin videre: to see)
• -ew (Anglo-French spelling of the past participle)