prospectus

Etymology

It is borrowed from French prospectus, recorded in French from 1723 for the announcement of a book,^[2][3] and directly borrowed from Latin prōspectus (“a lookout, distant view, outlook”).^{[2][3][4][5][6]} The Latin noun is the past participle of prōspiciō (“to look forward, look out”) used as a noun,^[7][8][6] from prō- (“forward”) and speciō (“to look”).^[8][6] It is also the source of prospect.^[3][5][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

A statement setting out the main features of a proposed enterprise or a forthcoming publication: 1765, in a letter of David Garrick.^[2] Etymonline also dates the word to 1765,^[3] and Merriam-Webster gives 1765 as its first known use;^[4] Dictionary.com dates it to 1770–80.^[6]

Semantic evolution

In French the word was used for the announcement of a book (1723), then for a document announcing something else, such as a budget (1789) or an invention (1790), and for a publicity announcement (1813).^[2] Weekley notes that in 18th-century English it was at first the announcement and outline of a literary work.^[10] From 1823 it was also a brochure describing a school or university and what it offers.^[2][11] In finance and law it is the document describing a business and its offering of shares or other securities to prospective investors, which a publicly traded corporation in the United States must provide before selling its stock.^[12][4]

Timeline

• 1765 – a statement of the details of a proposed enterprise or forthcoming publication.^[2][3][4]
• 1823 – a brochure describing a school or university.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A printed document describing a business or other enterprise, especially an offering of shares or other securities, distributed to prospective investors: The company issued a prospectus before going public.^[11][4][12]
2. A brochure or booklet describing the courses and facilities of a school, college or university.^[11][2]
3. A booklet or leaflet describing a forthcoming publication.^[4][2]

Related words

• prospect
• prospective

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
6. ^ a b c d Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
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 Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
10. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
11. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
12. ^ a b Garner, Bryan A., ed. (2004), Black's Law Dictionary, 8th ed., St. Paul, Minn.: Thomson West