Etymologically
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prospectivus

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Forms

prōspectīvus (feminine prōspectīva, neuter prōspectīvum); first/second-declension adjective[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin prōspiciō (“to look out, look forward”), formed on the stem ⟨prōspect-⟩ of its participle.[3][1][2][4] Lewis and Short derive it from the noun prōspectus (“view, prospect”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The dictionaries cite fenestrae prospectivae, windows with a view, from the Code of Justinian;[5][1][2][6] the TLL says this passage comes from a modern translation of a Greek constitution.[3] The only ancient use it accepts is the feminine prospectiva as the name of a water plant that rises above the surface, in the Latin Dioscorides.[3]

Semantic evolution

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant looking ahead.[7] English prospective (1580s) comes from medieval Latin prospectivus, “affording a prospect”, partly through French.[8]

Timeline

  • 528–534 AD – The Code of Justinian is cited for windows with a view, a passage the TLL rejects.[5][1][4][3]
  • 1580s – English borrows prospective, partly through French.[8]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Giving a view, looking out (of windows).[5][1][2][6]
  2. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Looking ahead, prospective.[7]

Noun

  1. (feminine prospectiva) A water plant that rises above the surface.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  2. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  3. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com