vantage point

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈvɑːn.tɪd͡ʒ ˌpɔɪnt/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈvæn.tɪd͡ʒ ˌpɔɪnt/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

vantage point (plural vantage points)

1. A place or position affording a good view.

   The hill provided the troops an excellent vantage point to scout for the enemy.

   • 2018 October 12, Daniel Taylor, “Marcus Rashford fluffs his lines in England’s eerie draw with Croatia”, in The Guardian (London)‎:

     The chants drifting down from the hillside came from a position among the trees from where half the pitch could be seen. That apart, however, the only other vantage point came from the balconies of high-rise flats next door.

2. A point of view; viewpoint; perspective; outlook; standpoint.

   It may be difficult for us to understand the motivations of these people from our 21st century vantage point.

   • 2017 May 16, Jerry Stuger, “Kafka and Autism. The Undisclosed Logic Behind Kafka’s Work”, in Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, volume 47, →DOI, pages 2336–2347:

     Infinite guilt can be seen as a reaction to compensate for the inability to recognize deceit or because of illogical or irrational behavior when the autistic person is not aware of his own frame of reference and is also not aware of the fact that others have a different neural frame of reference. Thus these infinite feelings of guilt are triggered to compensate for fight and flight primary emotions which makes the autistic person really miserable which forces him to look for some form of cognitive release or outlet. That will ultimately culminate in meek, apologetic and docile behavioral reactions or sometimes in aggressive behavior. As a result the guilt stems also from Kafka’s interest in tracing the human reasoning process in great detail up to the point where it fails. His protagonists are desperately trying to comprehend the world by following the ‘normal’ way which is obviously doomed to fail since they encounter the world from a different vantage point.

3. (photography) A camera angle.

There are many contexts where vantage point and vantage are synonymous, and, historically, the former could be proscribed as redundant when there was no risk of confusion with the latter's other senses. However, vantage alone has become rare in modern usage, and vantage point is therefore now the preferred choice.