Word of the Week: Viewshed

Viewshed: An area of land, water, and other environmental elements visible from a fixed vantage point. Commonly used by urban planners, but first heard by this lay listener in Margo Adler's National Public Radio report on big (and bigger) American houses. The "-shed" suffix, seen also in "watershed," comes from an Old English word meaning "to divide" or "to separate."