prospect en · NOUN · etymology 1
Pronunciation
- (US) audio
- präsʹpĕkt (General-American)
- /ˈpɹɑspɛkt/ (General-American)
- /ˈpɹɒspɛkt/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- (Southern-England) audio
Etymology
From Middle English prospecte, from Latin prōspectus (“view, sight, prospect; panorama”), from prōspiciō (“to look forward”) + -tus (suffix forming action nouns), from pro (“before, forward”) + speciō, spiciō (“to look, to see”). By surface analysis, pro- + -spect. Doublet of prospectus and prospekt. The verb is from the noun.
Meanings
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The region which the eye overlooks at one time; a view; a scene; an outlook.
As when a Scout[…]Obtains the brow of ſome high-climbing Hill, / Which to his eye diſcovers unaware / The goodly proſpect of ſome forein land / Firſt-ſeen, or ſome renownd Metropolis / With gliſtering Spires and Pinnacles adornd, / Which now the Riſing Sun guilds with his beams.
1667, John Milton, “Book III”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 543–552:
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A picturesque or panoramic view; a landscape; hence, a sketch of a landscape.
The wide prospect up stream was grey and lowering, the long still-distant waterfront of Dundee, and the Fife shore were alike colourless, and there was ample evidence of rough weather not far ahead.
1947 January and February, O. S. Nock, “"The Aberdonian" in Wartime”, in Railway Magazine, page 7:I went to Putney, and other places on the Thames, to take prospects in crayon, to carry into France, where I thought to have them engraved.
1649 June 20, John Evelyn, edited by William Bray, John Evelyn's Diary, volume 1, London: Henry Colburn, published 1850, page 251:She felt all the honest pride and complacency which her alliance with the present and future proprietor could fairly warrant, as she viewed the respectable size and style of the building, its suitable, becoming, characteristic situation, low and sheltered—its ample gardens stretching down to meadows washed by a stream, of which the Abbey, with all the old neglect of prospect, had scarcely a sight ...
1815, Jane Austen, Emma, volume III, chapter 6:
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A position affording a fine view; a lookout.
Him God beholding from his proſpect high, / Wherein paſt, preſent, future he beholds, / Thus to his onely Son forſeeing ſpake.
1667, John Milton, “Book III”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 77–79:
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A relative position of the front of a building or other structure; a face; a relative aspect.
Their prospect was toward the south.
1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Ezekiel 40:44:
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The act of looking forward; foresight; anticipation.
a very ill prospect of a future state
1689 (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. […], London: […] Eliz[abeth] Holt, for Thomas Basset, […], →OCLC:Is he a prudent man as to his temporal estate, that lays designs only for a day, without any prospect to, or provision for, the remaining part of life?
1663, John Tillotson, The Wisdom of being Religious:
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The potential things that may come to pass, often favorable.
It is time the international community faced the reality: we have an unmanageable, unfair, distortionary global tax regime. […] It is the starving of the public sector which has been pivotal in America no longer being the land of opportunity – with a child's life prospects more dependent on the income and education of its parents than in other advanced countries.
2013 June 7, Joseph Stiglitz, “Globalisation is about taxes too”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 19:The result, therefore, of this physical inquiry is, that we find no vestige of a beginning,— no prospect of an end.
1788, James Hutton, Theory of the earth, page 166:We drove back to the office with some concern on my part at the prospect of so large a case. Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke. He was dressed out in broad gaiters and bright tweeds, like an English tourist, and his face might have belonged to Dagon, idol of the Philistines.
1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter II, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:And a further boost to England's qualification prospects came after the final whistle when Wales recorded a 2-1 home win over group rivals Montenegro, who Capello's men face in their final qualifier.
2011 September 2, Phil McNulty, “Bulgaria 0-3 England”, in BBC:Prospects for the construction of a Channel tunnel now appear to be brighter than they have been for some time.
1960 March 14, “The Channel Tunnel Scheme”, in Railway Magazine, page 148:
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A hope; a hopeful.
The most persistent tormentor was Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who scored a hat-trick in last month’s corresponding fixture in Iceland. His ability to run at defences is instantly striking, but it is his clever use of possession that has persuaded some shrewd judges that he is an even better prospect than Theo Walcott.
2011 November 10, Jeremy Wilson, “England Under 21 5 Iceland Under 21 0: match report”, in Telegraph:
- Any player whose rights are owned by a top-level professional team, but who has yet to play a game for said team.
- (qualifier:sales) A potential client or customer.
- The façade of an organ.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| prospects | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
prospectless · unqualified prospect · Prospect Vale · nonprospect · Mount Prospect
Synonyms
Translations (91)
be вы́гляд (picturesque or panoramic view; landscape, sketch of landscape) · be вы́гляд (region which the eye overlooks at one time) · ja 見通し (potential things that may come to pass, usually favorable) · es perspectiva (region which the eye overlooks at one time) · nl vooruitzicht (potential things that may come to pass, usually favorable) · de Aussicht (potential things that may come to pass, usually favorable) · fi tulevaisuudennäkymä (potential things that may come to pass, usually favorable) · fi maisema (picturesque or panoramic view; landscape, sketch of landscape) · de Aussicht (act of looking forward; foresight; anticipation) · de Sicht (region which the eye overlooks at one time) · de Zukunftsaussicht (potential things that may come to pass, usually favorable) · gl perspectiva (potential things that may come to pass, usually favorable) · es expectativa (act of looking forward; foresight; anticipation) · fi näkymä (region which the eye overlooks at one time) · es prospección (act of looking forward; foresight; anticipation) · hu kilátás (potential things that may come to pass, usually favorable) · fr perspective (region which the eye overlooks at one time) · uk ви́гляд (region which the eye overlooks at one time) · ar إِمْكَانِيَّة (potential things that may come to pass, usually favorable) · cs vyhlídka (potential things that may come to pass, usually favorable) · fi julkisivu (music: façade of an organ) · hy տեսադաշտ (region which the eye overlooks at one time) · bg перспектива (potential things that may come to pass, usually favorable) · de Blick (picturesque or panoramic view; landscape, sketch of landscape) · fi kasvot (relative position of the front of a building or other structure; face) · de Erwartung (act of looking forward; foresight; anticipation) · pt expectativa (potential things that may come to pass, usually favorable) · fi toivo (hope, hopeful) · fi mahdollisuus (potential things that may come to pass, usually favorable) · fi näkymä (act of looking forward; foresight; anticipation) · es prospectiva (potential things that may come to pass, usually favorable) · be пэрспэкты́ва (potential things that may come to pass, usually favorable) · de Hoffnung (hope, hopeful) · bg гледка (picturesque or panoramic view; landscape, sketch of landscape) · fi julkisivu (relative position of the front of a building or other structure; face) · de Hoffnung (act of looking forward; foresight; anticipation) · ru перспекти́ва (potential things that may come to pass, usually favorable) · de Chance (act of looking forward; foresight; anticipation) · uk перспекти́ва (potential things that may come to pass, usually favorable) · ar توقع (potential things that may come to pass, usually favorable) · el προοπτική (potential things that may come to pass, usually favorable) · ru вид (picturesque or panoramic view; landscape, sketch of landscape) · es prospectiva (act of looking forward; foresight; anticipation) · fi näköala (region which the eye overlooks at one time) · gl expectativa (act of looking forward; foresight; anticipation) · fi eteenpäin katsominen (act of looking forward; foresight; anticipation) · de Kandidat (hope, hopeful) · de Perspektive (region which the eye overlooks at one time) · it lungimiranza (act of looking forward; foresight; anticipation) · es prospecto (potential things that may come to pass, usually favorable) · fr perspective (potential things that may come to pass, usually favorable) · es expectativa (potential things that may come to pass, usually favorable) · de Perspektive (potential things that may come to pass, usually favorable) · es vista (picturesque or panoramic view; landscape, sketch of landscape) · de Aussicht (picturesque or panoramic view; landscape, sketch of landscape) · ru наде́жда (hope, hopeful) · gd dùil (potential things that may come to pass, usually favorable) · bg очакване (act of looking forward; foresight; anticipation) · fi näkymä (potential things that may come to pass, usually favorable) · gl perspectiva (region which the eye overlooks at one time) · uk ви́гляд (picturesque or panoramic view; landscape, sketch of landscape) · gl vista (picturesque or panoramic view; landscape, sketch of landscape) · fi näkökenttä (region which the eye overlooks at one time) · pt expectativa (act of looking forward; foresight; anticipation) · pl perspektywa (potential things that may come to pass, usually favorable) · de Talent (hope, hopeful) · ru ожида́ние (act of looking forward; foresight; anticipation) · es panorama (picturesque or panoramic view; landscape, sketch of landscape) · fi varaus (sports: player whose rights are owned by a top-level professional team, but who has yet to play a game for said team) · ar أمل (potential things that may come to pass, usually favorable) · it possibilità (potential things that may come to pass, usually favorable) · gl expectativa (potential things that may come to pass, usually favorable) · oc perspectiva (region which the eye overlooks at one time) · pt perspectiva (region which the eye overlooks at one time) · ru вид (region which the eye overlooks at one time) · fi julkisivupillistö (music: façade of an organ) · hy տեսարան (picturesque or panoramic view; landscape, sketch of landscape) · de Erwartung (potential things that may come to pass, usually favorable) · it eventualità (potential things that may come to pass, usually favorable) · bg изглед (region which the eye overlooks at one time) · de Ausrichtung (relative position of the front of a building or other structure; face) · es perspectiva (potential things that may come to pass, usually favorable) · fr perspective (act of looking forward; foresight; anticipation) · ar احتمال (potential things that may come to pass, usually favorable) · it prospettiva (region which the eye overlooks at one time) · ca prospeccions (potential things that may come to pass, usually favorable) · hy տեսարան (region which the eye overlooks at one time) · bg надежда (hope, hopeful) · hy հեռանկար (potential things that may come to pass, usually favorable) · es porvenir (potential things that may come to pass, usually favorable) · de Ansicht (music: façade of an organ)