prospect
UK /ˈpɹɒspɛkt/ · US /ˈpɹɑspɛkt/ noun, verb, proper noun
Forms prospects prospecting prospected
- noun The region which the eye overlooks at one time; a view; a scene; an outlook.
- noun A picturesque or panoramic view; a landscape; hence, a sketch of a landscape.
- noun A position affording a fine view; a lookout.
- noun A relative position of the front of a building or other structure; a face; a relative aspect.
- noun The act of looking forward; foresight; anticipation.
- noun The potential things that may come to pass, often favorable.
- noun A hope; a hopeful.
- noun (sports) Any player whose rights are owned by a top-level professional team, but who has yet to play a game for said team.
- verb (intransitive) To search, as for gold.
- verb (geology, mining) To determine which minerals or metals are present in a location.
- verb (intransitive) To have or afford a view; to face or look out.
- verb (transitive) To look or face towards; to view.
- proper noun A town in New Haven County, Connecticut.
- proper noun An unincorporated community in Jasper County, Georgia.
- proper noun A census-designated place in French Lick Township, Orange County, Indiana.
- proper noun A city in Jefferson County and Oldham County, Kentucky.
- proper noun A town in Waldo County, Maine.
- proper noun A hamlet in the town of Trenton, Oneida County, New York.
- proper noun A census-designated place in Robeson County, North Carolina.
- proper noun A village in Marion County, Ohio.
Synonyms
outcome chance expectation outlook candidate view aspect scene vista panorama prognosis medical prognosis
Etymology
From Middle English prospecte, from Latin prōspectus (“view, sight, prospect; panorama”), from prōspiciō (“to look forward”) + -tus (suffix forming action nouns), from pro (“before, forward”) + speciō, spiciō (“to look, to see”). By surface analysis, pro- + -spect. Doublet of prospectus and prospekt. The verb is from the noun.
Learned borrowing from Latin prōspectō.
Webster’s 1913
- noun That which is embraced by eye in vision; the region which the eye overlooks at one time; view; scene; outlook.
- noun Especially, a picturesque or widely extended view; a landscape; hence, a sketch of a landscape.
- verb To look over; to explore or examine for something; as, to prospect a district for gold.
- verb To make a search; to seek; to explore, as for mines or the like; as, to prospect for gold.
Etymology [L. prospectus, fr. prospicere, prospectum, to look forward; pro before, forward + specere, spicere, look, to see: cf. OF. prospect. See Spy, v., and cf. Prospectus.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “prospect”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details