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 and vista.
Physical The act of seeing or looking at something.
He changed seats to get a complete view of the stage.
Thenceforth I thought thee worth my nearer view.1671, John Milton, “The Fourth Book”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC:
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, Book II, Chapter XXI Objects near our view are apt to be thought greater than those of a larger size are more remote.
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.1959, Georgette Heyer, chapter 1, in The Unknown Ajax:
If there are any rabbits in this park, they keep carefully out of our view.
The walls of Pluto's palace are in 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:
'Tis distance lends enchantment to the view.1799, Thomas Campbell, The Pleasures of Hope:
"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."1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 20:
At Bleiken (50 miles), for the first time the Randsfjord comes into view, and a very lovely view it is, of the long winding island-studded lake with wooded shores and small sandy bays.1955 July, M. D. Greville, “To the Valdres by Rail”, in Railway Magazine, page 458:
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Internet, Physical An individual viewing of a web page or a video etc. by a user.
That video got a million views.
His other song, “Nepal Haseko,” became an anthem during last year's protests, and already has more than 10 million views on YouTube.2026 March 11, Chad de Guzman, “Who Is Balendra Shah, the Rapper On Track to Become Nepal’s Next Prime Minister”, in TIME, archived from the original on 11 Mar 2026:
[Graces] which, by the splendor of her view / Dazzled, before we never knew.c. 1648, Edmund Waller, The Night-Piece:
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A picture, drawn or painted; a sketch.
a fine view of Lake George
› An opinion, judgement, imagination, idea or belief.
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A mental image.
I need more information to get a better view of the situation.
I have with exact view perused thee, Hector.c. 1602 (date written), 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]:
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A way of understanding something, an opinion, a theory.
Your view on evolution is based on religious doctrines, not on scientific findings.
to give a right view of this mistaken part of liberty1689 (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:
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There hasn’t been much polling data on consumer views of gene-edited foods, because they are still so new.2019 May 30, Karen Weintraub, “Crispr gene-editing will change the way Americans eat – here's what's coming”, in The Guardian:
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A point of view.
From my view that is a stupid proposition.
I think I have fairly broad views on the whole.
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“I believe deep inside everyone's heart is an underlying loneliness,” he says. Humanity longs for another species with comparable intelligence. AGI, in his view, isn’t just a profit engine but a companion on our civilizational journey.2025 October 14, Catherine Thorbecke, “China’s AI Dragons Must Survive ‘Involution’ to Conquer the World”, in Bloomberg, Bloomberg L.P.:
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An intention or prospect.
He smuggled a knife into prison with a view to using it as a weapon.
No man ever sets himself about anything but upon some view or other which serves him for a reason for what he doesa. 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:
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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.1903, Henry Kelsall Aspinall, Birkenhead and Its Surroundings, page 116:
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Computing, Databases, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences A virtual or logical table composed of the result set of a query in relational databases.
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Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Programming, Sciences The part of a computer program which is visible to the user and can be interacted with
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 and vista.
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To look at.
The video was viewed by millions of people.
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.2013 June 14, Jonathan Freedland, “Obama's once hip brand is now tainted”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 1, page 18: