prosper

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English prosperen,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Anglo-Norman prosperer and Middle French prosperer,^[5][6] and directly borrowed from Latin prosperō (“to cause to succeed, render happy”),^[5][3][4][2] from prosperus (“favourable, fortunate, prosperous”).^[3][4][7][8] The Anglo-Norman verb is recorded from the 1360s and 1370s, meaning both to foster and to prosper.^[6] The Latin adjective is the source of próspero and prospero.^[3][5] Its origin is uncertain.^[5] It has traditionally been explained from an Old Latin phrase meaning "according to hope", from prō (“for, according to”) and the ablative of spēs (“hope”),^[3][9][4] but Barnhart notes that the short e of prosperus does not match the long ē of spēs, so the link may be only a folk etymology.^[4] Etymonline gives as an alternative Proto-Italic *pro-sparo-, from a root also seen in Old English spōwan (“to prosper”), which is related to speed.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of a person or a community, to do well, thrive, be successful: about 1350, in a Middle English prose Psalter, "Ne wil þou nouȝt folwen in him þat prosperet in his waie".^[5][2] Barnhart dates the verb to 1350,^[4] and the Shorter Oxford and Hoad to the 15th century.^[8][10]

Semantic evolution

From 1434 the verb was used of things, such as an enterprise, that flourish or turn out well,^[5][2] and in Coverdale's Bible (1535) it was used of plants that thrive.^[5] The transitive sense, to make someone or something prosper, is recorded from the 1520s^[5][3] and is now rare.^[5] Johnson (1755) gave both, the active "to make happy; to favour", with Shakespeare's "Kind gods, forgive me that, and prosper him", and the neuter "to be prosperous; to thrive".^[11] The adjective prosper, prosperous, was borrowed in the same years from Anglo-Norman prospre and Latin, and lasted from about 1350 to 1600.^[5] In modern use the verb often means especially to grow wealthy.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 1350 – to be prosperous, to thrive; also the adjective prosper (obsolete by 1600).^[5][2]
• 1434 – of a thing, to flourish or turn out well.^[5][2]
• before 1525 – transitive, to cause to prosper.^[5]
• 1535 – of a plant, to thrive.^[5]
• 1755 – Johnson defines both the active and the neuter verb.^[11]

Meanings

Verb

1. To do well; to succeed or thrive: The village prospered after the railway arrived.^[12][9][5]
2. Especially, to become wealthy or financially successful.^[9]
3. Of a plan or undertaking, to turn out well.^[9][5]
4. Of a plant, to grow strongly; to flourish.^[5][11]
5. (now rare) To make successful; to favour: May heaven prosper your voyage.^[5][12][11]

Word family

• unprospered
• prosperous
• prosperity

Related words

• speed

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
10. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ a b c d Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
12. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins