Advertisement

Origin and history of overview

overview(n.)

"a survey, a summary," 1934, American English, from over- + view (n.). In 17c. it meant "inspection, supervision," but by late 19c. this became obsolete. As a verb, 1540s as "look (something) over or through;" 1560s as "view from a superior position;" both now rare or obsolete. The modern word seems to be a new formation; it was mentioned in "American Speech" (1934) as "now being worked as hard by educationalists as 'purposeful', 'challenge', 'objective', 'motivation', et al."

also from 1934

Entries linking to overview

view(n.)

mid-14c., veue "a visual perception;" early 15c., "formal inspection or survey" (of land); from Anglo-French vewe, Old French veue "light, brightness; look, appearance; eyesight, vision," noun use of fem. past participle of veoir "to see," from Latin videre "to see" (from PIE root *weid- "to see").

In general use, "examination by the eye," from 1560s; by c. 1600 as "that which is seen or beheld," hence "sight or prospect of a landscape, etc." The camera view-finder is attested by 1889.

The meaning "act of perceiving by the mind" is attested from early 15c.; the sense of "manner of regarding something" is by 1570s. Hence views in reference to one's opinions, theories, ideas, etc.

over-

word-forming element meaning variously "above; highest; across; higher in power or authority; too much; above normal; outer; beyond in time, too long," from Old English ofer (from PIE root *uper "over"). Over and its Germanic relations were widely used as prefixes, and sometimes could be used with negative force. This is rare in Modern English, but compare Gothic ufarmunnon "to forget," ufar-swaran "to swear falsely;" Old English ofercræft "fraud."

In some of its uses, moreover, over is a movable element, which can be prefixed at will to almost any verb or adjective of suitable sense, as freely as an adjective can be placed before a substantive or an adverb before an adjective. [OED]

Among the old words not now existing are Old English oferlufu (Middle English oferlufe), literally "over-love," hence "excessive or immoderate love." Over- in Middle English also could carry a sense of "too little, below normal," as in over-lyght "of too little weight" (c. 1400), overlitel "too small" (mid-14c.), oversmall (mid-13c.), overshort, etc.

    Advertisement

    More to explore

    summary
    early 15c., summari, of a statement or account, "brief, abbreviated; containing the sum or substance only," from Medieval Latin summarius "of or pertaining to the sum or substance," from Latin summa "whole, totality, gist" (see sum (n.)). Compare the Latin phrase ad summam "on th
    lot
    Old English hlot "object used to determine someone's share" (anything from dice to straw, but often a chip of wood with a name inscribed on it), also "what falls to a person by lot," from Proto-Germanic *khlutom (source also of Old Norse hlutr "lot, share," Old Frisian hlot "lot,
    challenge
    early 14c., chalenge, "something one can be accused of, a fault, blemish;" mid-14c., "false accusation, malicious charge; accusation of wrong-doing," also "act of laying claim" (to something), from Anglo-French chalenge, Old French chalonge "calumny, slander; demand, opposition,"
    zilch
    "nothing," 1957; "insignificant person," 1933, from use of Zilch as a generic comical-sounding surname for an insignificant person (especially Joe Zilch). There was a Mr. Zilch (1931), comic character in the magazine "Ballyhoo," and the use perhaps originated c. 1922 in U.S. coll
    cognitive
    1580s, "pertaining to cognition," with -ive + Latin cognit-, past participle stem of cognoscere "to get to know, recognize," from assimilated form of com "together" (see co-) + gnoscere "to know" (from PIE root *gno- "to know"). Taken over by psychologists and sociologists after
    onion
    early 12c., ungeon, oinyon, unione, "the underground bulb of the common onion plant," from Anglo-French union, Old French oignon "onion" (formerly also oingnon), and directly from Latin unionem (nominative unio), a colloquial rustic Roman word for a kind of onion, also "pearl" (v
    baccalaureate
    1620s, "university degree of a bachelor," from Modern Latin baccalaureatus, from baccalaureus "student with the first degree," an alteration of Medieval Latin baccalarius "one who has attained the lowest degree in a university, an advanced student lecturing under his master's sup
    drive
    Old English drifan "to compel or urge to move, impel in some direction or manner; to hunt (deer), pursue; to rush against" (class I strong verb; past tense draf, past participle drifen), from Proto-Germanic *dreibanan (source also of Old Frisian driva "I lead, impel, drive (away)
    mall
    1737, "shaded walk serving as a promenade," generalized from The Mall, name of a broad, tree-lined promenade in St. James's Park, London (so called from 1670s, earlier Maill, 1640s), which was so called because it formerly was an open alley that was used to play pall-mall. This w
    Logos
    1580s, "the divine Word, second person of the Christian Trinity," from Greek logos "word, speech, statement, discourse," also "a computation, account," also "reason, judgment, understanding," from PIE *log-o-, suffixed form of root *leg- (1) "to collect, gather," with derivatives

    Share overview

    Advertisement
    Trending
    Dictionary entries near overview
    Advertisement