scope

Multiple Entries:
  scope    -scope  

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
scope1

▶noun

• 1 the extent of the area or subject matter that something deals with or to which it is relevant: these complex matters are beyond the scope of this book.

• 2 the opportunity or possibility for doing something.

  ■ archaic a purpose or intention.

• 3 Nautical the length of cable extended when a ship rides at anchor.

– origin C16 (in the sense ‘target for shooting at’): from Ital. scopo ‘aim’, from Gk skopos ‘target’.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
scope2

▶noun informal a telescope, microscope, or other device having a name ending in -scope. ▶verb N. Amer. informal look at carefully; scan.

■ assess; weigh up.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
-scope/skəʊp/

▶combining form denoting an instrument for observing or examining: telescope.

– derivatives
-scopic combining form.

– origin mod. L. -scopium, from Gk skopein ‘look at’.