最近学习maven是了解下<scope> 中文是这么解释的：
compile （编译范围）
compile是默认的范围；如果没有提供一个范围，那该依赖的范围就是编译范围。编译范围依赖在所有的classpath 中可用，同时它们也会被打包。
provided （已提供范围）
provided 依赖只有在当JDK 或者一个容器已提供该依赖之后才使用。例如， 如果你开发了一个web 应用，你可能在编译 classpath 中需要可用的Servlet API 来编译一个servlet，但是你不会想要在打包好的WAR 中包含这个Servlet API；这个Servlet API JAR 由你的应用服务器或者servlet 容器提供。已提供范围的依赖在编译classpath （不是运行时）可用。它们不是传递性的，也不会被打包。
runtime （运行时范围）
runtime 依赖在运行和测试系统的时候需要，但在编译的时候不需要。比如，你可能在编译的时候只需要JDBC API JAR，而只有在运行的时候才需要JDBC
驱动实现。
test （测试范围）
test范围依赖 在一般的编译和运行时都不需要，它们只有在测试编译和测试运行阶段可用。
system （系统范围）
system范围依赖与provided 类似，但是你必须显式的提供一个对于本地系统中JAR 文件的路径。这么做是为了允许基于本地对象编译，而这些对象是系统类库的一部分。这样的构件应该是一直可用的，Maven 也不会在仓库中去寻找它。如果你将一个依赖范围设置成系统范围，你必须同时提供一个 systemPath 元素。注意该范围是不推荐使用的（你应该一直尽量去从公共或定制的 Maven 仓库中引用依赖）。
在maven的官方中是这样描述的
Dependency Scope
Dependency scope is used to
limit the transitivity of a depedency, and also to affect the classpath
used for various build tasks.
There are 6 scopes available:
compile
This is the default scope, used if none
is specified. Compile dependencies are available in all classpaths of a
project. Furthermore, those dependencies are propagated to dependent
projects.
provided
This is much like compile,
but indicates you expect the JDK or a container to provide the
dependency at runtime. For example, when building a web application for
the Java Enterprise Edition, you would set the dependency on the Servlet
API and related Java EE APIs to scope provided because the web
container provides those classes. This scope is only available on the
compilation and test classpath, and is not transitive.
runtime
This
scope indicates that the dependency is not required for compilation,
but is for execution. It is in the runtime and test classpaths, but not
the compile classpath.
test
This scope indicates
that the dependency is not required for normal use of the application,
and is only available for the test compilation and execution phases.
system
This
scope is similar to provided except that you have to provide the JAR
which contains it explicitly. The artifact is always available and is
not looked up in a repository.
import (only available in Maven 2.0.9 or later)
This
scope is only used on a dependency of type pom in the
<dependencyManagement> section. It indicates that the specified
POM should be replaced with the dependencies in that POM‘s
<dependencyManagement> section. Since they are replaced,
dependencies with a scope of import do not actually participate in
limiting the transitivity of a dependency.