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envision

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Etymology and origin of the English word envision

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1855
Ultimate origin
Latin videō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
English vision
English envision
From the same root
English television ← vision
English visionary ← vision

Pronunciation

  • /ɪnˈvɪʒn̩/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English en- + vision, with the prefix in its sense "to put into, make",[2][3] so that it means to see something as in a vision.[4] Vision is from Old French vision, from Latin vīsiō (“a seeing, sight”), from videō (“to see”).[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

To picture something in the mind, especially before it exists: Merriam-Webster dates the word to 1855.[6] Etymonline dates the sense "call to the mind's eye" to 1914,[2] and the OED and Barnhart give 1921, in Lytton Strachey's Queen Victoria.[4][3] An earlier envision'd, 1827, meant "endowed with vision".[2]

Semantic evolution

The verb vision had been used for "to see in a vision, imagine" since the 1590s;[2] envision took over that sense in the 20th century.[2][4] The OED defines it as seeing or foreseeing as in a vision, and treats it as close to envisage and visualize,[4][7] and Collins stresses imagining something as a future possibility.[8]

Timeline

  • 1827 – envision'd, endowed with vision.[2]
  • 1855 – to picture in the mind, foresee.[6] Etymonline dates this sense to 1914,[2] the OED to 1921.[4][3]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To form a mental image of something; to imagine: She could not envision the old mill as a hotel.[5][6][8]
  2. To imagine something as a future possibility; to foresee or envisage: The planners envision a park along the river.[8][4][6]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c d e f Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  6. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Envision.” Etymologically, 1 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/envision. Accessed 2 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·