# scope

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈskəʊp/ · frequency rank #4,632

## Definitions
1. The breadth, depth or reach of a subject; the extent of applicability or relevance; a domain, purview or remit.
2. A device used in aiming a projectile, through which the person aiming looks at the intended target.
3. Potential range of action; degree of freedom; opportunity.
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. Ellipsis of any word ending in -scope, such as endoscope, periscope, telescope, microscope, oscilloscope, and so on.
8. Any medical procedure that ends in the suffix -scopy, such as endoscopy, colonoscopy, bronchoscopy, etc.

## 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.

## Easily confused with
- **soe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/scope-vs-soe)
- **sop** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/scope-vs-sop)
- **SCP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/scope-vs-scp)
- **some** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/scope-vs-some)
- **stop** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/scope-vs-stop)
- **shop** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/scope-vs-shop)
- **sole** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/scope-vs-sole)
- **shoe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/scope-vs-shoe)
- **sore** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/scope-vs-sore)
- **Scot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/scope-vs-scot)
- **slop** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/scope-vs-slop)
- **sone** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/scope-vs-sone)
- **store** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/scope-vs-store)
- **score** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/scope-vs-score)
- **stone** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/scope-vs-stone)
- **Scott** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/scope-vs-scott)
- **shape** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/scope-vs-shape)
- **smoke** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/scope-vs-smoke)
- **spoke** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/scope-vs-spoke)
- **stops** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/scope-vs-stops)

## Common misspellings (7)
`csope`, `sccope`, `scoep`, `scoppe`, `scpoe`, `socpe`, `sscope`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/scope