prospect

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈpɹɑspɛkt/, /pɹəˈspɛkt/; /ˈpɹɒspɛkt/ (UK)^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English prospecte, borrowed from Latin prōspectus (“outlook, distant view”),^[2][3][4] from the past participle of prōspicere (“to look out on, look forward”),^[2][3] from prō-, forward, and specere, to look (see spy),^[2][5] from PIE Proto-Indo-European *spek- (“to observe”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

An outlook or view, the action of looking into the distance: probably before 1425, in a translation of Higden's Polychronicon;^[2] 1430–50 in the OED.^[6]

Semantic evolution

An extensive view of landscape is first recorded in Elyot's Dictionary (1538),^[2][6] a mental view or survey from the 1620s,^[3] and the scene itself from the 1630s.^[3] Looking forward is from Shakespeare's Macbeth (1605),^[2] a thing expected from 1665,^[2] and prospects, things looked forward to, from 1667.^[2][3] A person or thing considered promising, such as a likely customer or candidate, is from 1922.^[3] A spot giving prospects of ore is from 1832, and the verb, to explore for gold or other minerals, from 1841 in American English.^[3][2][5] An earlier verb, to look out over, from Latin prospectare, is obsolete.^[3][7] In Scotland and Yorkshire a prospect was a telescope.^[8]

Timeline

• before 1425 – a view.^[2]
• 1538 – an extensive view.^[2]
• 1605 – looking forward.^[2]
• 1665 – a thing expected.^[2]
• 1841 – to search for minerals.^[2]
• 1922 – a promising person.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Something expected; a possibility.
2. (prospects) Chances of future success.
3. A likely customer, or a candidate who seems likely to succeed.
4. A wide view of a landscape; a vista.

Verb

1. To search a region for mineral deposits or oil.

Word family

• prospector
• prospectless
• nonprospect
• bioprospect

Related words

• prospective
• prospectus
• spy
• spectacle
• inspect

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)