portée

Portée is a French noun (feminine) derived from the verb porter, meaning to carry. It has several related senses connected to distance, reach, or extent, and it appears in both everyday language and specialized contexts. Etymologically, the sense of carrying leads to figurative uses such as range, scope, or applicability.

In general use, portée denotes the distance over which something can act or be perceived, or the scope of an effect. It can refer to the maximum distance a tool or signal can cover, as in the portée d’un fusil or the portée d’un signal radio, as well as the reach or influence of a project, plan, or law, for example la portée d’un projet ou d’un texte.

Within everyday speech, the expression à portée de main means within reach, signifying something that is easily accessible. The concept also appears in discussions of coverage or applicability, where one speaks of the portée d’un service, d’un droit, or d’une mesure.

In specialized domains, portée has particular meanings. In music, la portée refers to the staff or stave on which notes are written. In botany and veterinary contexts, une portée denotes a litter or brood of young animals, such as une portée de chiots. In linguistics and logic, portée is used to describe the scope or range of a quantifier or operator within a sentence.

Portée remains a versatile term in French, aligning physical distance with figurative reach and applicability across diverse fields.