scope

Meaning

Noun

1. The breadth, depth or reach of a subject; a domain.
2. A device used in aiming a projectile, through which the person aiming looks at the intended target.
3. Opportunity; broad range; degree of freedom.
4. The region of program source code in which a given identifier is meaningful, or a given object can be accessed.
5. The shortest sub-wff of which a given instance of a logical connective is a part.
6. The region of an utterance to which some modifying element applies.
7. (slang) A periscope, telescope, microscope or oscilloscope.
8. (colloquial) Any medical procedure that ends in the suffix -scopy, such as endoscopy, colonoscopy, bronchoscopy, etc.

Verb

1. (informal) To perform a cursory investigation of; scope out.
2. (colloquial) To perform any medical procedure that ends in the suffix -scopy, such as endoscopy, colonoscopy, bronchoscopy, etc.
3. To define the scope of something.
4. To limit (an object or variable) to a certain region of program source code.
5. (informal) To examine under a microscope.
6. (informal) To observe a bird using a spotting scope.

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈskəʊp/

Etymology

From Italian scopo (“purpose”), from Latin scopus (“target”), from Ancient Greek σκοπός (skopós), from σκέπτομαι (sképtomai), from Proto-Indo-European *speḱ-. Etymologically related to skeptic and spectrum.