Emily Dickinson Lexicon

PUR-VEY'ANCE, n.

1. Procurement of provisions or victuals.
2. Provisions; victuals provided. – Spenser.
3. In English laws, the royal prerogative or right of pre-emption, by which the king was authorized to buy provisions and necessaries for the use of his household at an apprized value, in preference to all his subjects, and even without the consent of the owner; also, the right of impressing horses and carriages, &c.; a right abolished by Stat. 12 Charles II, 24.