prospettare

Forms

prospettare (first-person singular present prospètto, first-person singular past historic prospettài, past participle prospettàto, auxiliary (transitive) avére or (intransitive) èssere)^[1]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin prōspectāre (“to look out at, gaze into the distance”).^{[2][3][4][5][6]} The Latin verb is the frequentative of prōspiciō (“to look forward”), formed from prō- (“forward”) and speciō (“to look”).^{[4][7][8][9][1]} Wiktionary analyses it instead as formed with spectō.^[1] Nocentini lists it among the derivatives of prospetto, and Wiktionary also analyses it on the surface as formed with the ending -are.^[10][1]

The Latin verb was also borrowed as French prospecter, Spanish prospectar and Portuguese prospectar.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is from Bembo, before 1547, in the sense “to look out before oneself”.^[11] Tommaseo quotes his letter in which a man sits in the shade of tapestries and awnings il mar e le galee mirando e prospettando (“gazing at the sea and the galleys”).^[12]

Semantic evolution

Tommaseo still calls the verb uncommon in the 19th century.^[12] Fanfani and Arlìa record in 1877 both the sense “to show, set out” and the intransitive “to face onto a place”.^[11] Nineteenth-century writers such as Botta, Guerrazzi and Carducci use it of buildings and coasts that face a place.^[13]

Nocentini dates the sense of putting something before someone's attention to the 16th century and the sense “to face” to 1950.^[10] The reflexive prospettarsi, “to look likely, appear in a given way”, is recorded from 1958.^[11] GRADIT also lists an uncommon sense, to prospect for minerals, beside prospettore and prospezione, which come from English prospector and prospection.^[4][11]

Timeline

• Before 1547 – Bembo uses prospettare for looking out over the sea.^[11][12]
• 1877 – Fanfani and Arlìa record the senses “to show, set out” and “to face onto”.^[11]
• 1950 – Nocentini's date for the sense “to face, look onto”.^[10]
• 1958 – The reflexive prospettarsi is recorded.^[11]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To set out, present something for someone to consider: prospettare una proposta al consiglio.^[4][5][7][6]
2. (transitive, uncommon) Of a building or place, to face, overlook: la terrazza prospetta il porto.^[4][7][2][6]
3. (intransitive, uncommon; with essere) To look out onto a place, with su: la casa prospetta sul fiume.^[4][2][7][6]
4. (uncommon) To prospect, search the ground for minerals.^[4]
5. (reflexive) prospettarsi: to look, appear in a given way, especially of something to come: il viaggio si prospetta lungo.^[5][7][2][6]

Word family

• prospettante
• prospettabile
• prospettatore
• prospettazione

Related words

• prospettiva
• prospetto
• prospettore
• prospezione

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
4. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
7. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
8. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
11. ^ a b c d e f g Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
12. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
13. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 14, 709