权限 (quán xiàn) literally combines 权 (quán), meaning 'power' or 'authority', and 限 (xiàn), meaning 'limit' or 'boundary'. Together, they refer to the specific scope of authority or access granted to a person or system—essentially, what someone is officially allowed to do or see. It’s commonly used in digital contexts (e.g., user accounts, software systems), workplace hierarchies, and administrative procedures.

This term emphasizes formal, often institutional, authorization—not personal permission or casual approval. For example, an intern may have limited 权限 to view files but not to delete them; a system administrator has higher 权限 to configure servers. Unlike informal words like ‘permission’ (允许 yǔnxǔ), 权限 implies structured, rule-based access control and is frequently paired with verbs like 设置 (to set), 分配 (to assign), or 限制 (to restrict).