General summaries or broad surveys of subjects or situations. Comprehensive but not detailed examinations of topics.
Compound of 'over' (above, across) and 'view' from Old French 'veue'. First recorded in the 1930s as a business term, combining the spatial metaphor of looking from above with the concept of seeing or examining.
The word overview is surprisingly modern, emerging during the rise of corporate management in the 1930s. It captures the executive's bird's-eye perspective, literally meaning to 'view from over' a situation, much like a general surveying a battlefield from a hilltop.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.