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prospect

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prospect¹

  • /ˈpɹɒspɛkt/ UK
  • /ˈpɹɑspɛkt/ US
  • /pɹəˈspɛkt/ UK

Rhymes with -ɛkt

Where it comes from

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. Etymology 1, noun sense 11 is a semantic loan from Russian проспе́кт (prospékt). The verb is from the noun.

noun prospects

  1. The region which the eye overlooks at one time; a view; a scene; an outlook. As when a Scout[…]Obtains the brow of ſome high-climbing Hill, / Which to his eye diſcovers unaware / The goodly proſpect of ſome forein land / Firſt-ſeen, or ſome renownd Metropolis / With gliſtering Spires and Pinnacles adornd, / Which now the Riſing Sun guilds with his beams.
  2. A picturesque or panoramic view; a landscape; hence, a sketch of a landscape. I went to Putney, and other places on the Thames, to take prospects in crayon, to carry into France, where I thought to have them engraved.
  3. A position affording a fine view; a lookout. Him God beholding from his proſpect high, / Wherein paſt, preſent, future he beholds, / Thus to his onely Son forſeeing ſpake.
  4. A relative position of the front of a building or other structure; a face; a relative aspect. Their prospect was toward the south.
  5. The act of looking forward; foresight; anticipation. a very ill prospect of a future state
  6. The potential things that may come to pass, often favorable. The result, therefore, of this physical inquiry is, that we find no vestige of a beginning,— no prospect of an end.

    Similar: outcome

  7. A hope; a hopeful. The most persistent tormentor was Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who scored a hat-trick in last month’s corresponding fixture in Iceland. His ability to run at defences is instantly striking, but it is his clever use of possession that has persuaded some shrewd judges that he is an even better prospect th
  8. Any player whose rights are owned by a top-level professional team, but who has yet to play a game for said team.
  9. A potential client or customer.
  10. The façade of an organ.
  11. alternative Alternative spelling of prospekt PETROGRAD, July 17, (Evening.)—After a lull this morning disturbances began again about midday. Motor cars with machine guns appeared and fired volleys straight down the Nevsky and Liteiny Prospects, causing a panic and wounding many persons.

verb prospects · prospecting · prospected

  1. intransitive To search, as for gold. Among the ancient sites in the Taklamakan Desert which are frequented by Khotan "treasure seekers," and which the prospecting parties sent out by me had visited, none seemed to offer better opportunities for systematic excavations than the one known to them as Dandan-Uilik.
  2. To determine which minerals or metals are present in a location.

prospect²

  • /pɹəˈspɛkt/ UK
  • /ˈpɹɑspɛkt/ US

Rhymes with -ɛkt

Where it comes from

Learned borrowing from Latin prōspectō.

verb prospects · prospecting · prospected

  1. intransitive, obsolete To have or afford a view; to face or look out. This poynte ſemethe as though it woolde inuade the monte Atlas in Aphrica. Foꝛ it pꝛoſpectethe [translating spectat] towarde that parte of Aphꝛike, whiche the poꝛtugales caule Caput Bonæ Sperantiæ.
  2. obsolete, transitive To look or face towards; to view. Beynge therfoꝛe ioyfull and gladde of the frendeſhyppe of owre men, he tooke the capitaine by the hand and bꝛought him with certeine of his familiars to the higheſt towre of his palaice, from whenſe they myght proſpecte [translating dispectare] the mayne ſea.

Prospect³

proper noun

  1. A town in New Haven County, Connecticut.
  2. An unincorporated community in Jasper County, Georgia.
  3. A census-designated place in French Lick Township, Orange County, Indiana.
  4. A city in Jefferson County and Oldham County, Kentucky.
  5. A town in Waldo County, Maine.
  6. A hamlet in the town of Trenton, Oneida County, New York.
  7. A census-designated place in Robeson County, North Carolina.
  8. A village in Marion County, Ohio.
  9. A census-designated place in Jackson County, Oregon.
  10. A borough in Butler County, Pennsylvania.
  11. An unincorporated community in Bradley County, Tennessee.
  12. An unincorporated community in Giles County, Tennessee.
  13. An unincorporated community in Prince Edward County, Virginia.
  14. A suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
  15. An inner suburb of Adelaide, South Australia.
  16. A local government area in Adelaide, which includes the suburb; in full, the City of Prospect.
  17. A suburb of Launceston, northern Tasmania, Australia.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: outlook, vista, aspect, view, scene, prognosis, expectation, panorama, candidate, medical prognosis, viewpoint, perspective, standpoint, sight, preparation, vision

Translations

Every language

noun region which the eye overlooks at one time

Españolperspectiva
Portuguêsperspectiva
Françaisperspective
DeutschSicht, Perspektive
Italianoprospettiva
Русскийвид vid

noun picturesque or panoramic view; landscape, sketch of landscape

Españolvista, panorama
DeutschAussicht, Blick
Русскийвид vid

noun relative position of the front of a building or other structure; face

DeutschAusrichtung

noun act of looking forward; foresight; anticipation

Españolexpectativa, prospección, prospectiva
Portuguêsexpectativa
Françaisperspective
DeutschErwartung, Chance, Aussicht, Hoffnung
Italianolungimiranza
Русскийожида́ние ožidánije

noun potential things that may come to pass, usually favorable

Españolperspectiva, expectativa, porvenir, prospecto, prospectiva
日本語見通し mitoushi
Portuguêsexpectativa
Françaisperspective
DeutschAussicht, Perspektive, Erwartung, Zukunftsaussicht
Italianopossibilità, eventualità
Ελληνικάπροοπτική prooptikí
Русскийперспекти́ва perspektíva
العربيةتوقع, احتمال, أمل, إِمْكَانِيَّة ʔimkāniyya

noun hope, hopeful

DeutschHoffnung, Talent, Kandidat
Русскийнаде́жда nadéžda

noun music: façade of an organ

DeutschAnsicht

verb to search, as for gold

Españolcatear
Portuguêsgarimpar
Françaisprospecter
Deutschschürfen
Русскийиска́ть iskátʹ

verb to determine which minerals or metals are present in a location

Españolprospectar
中文勘探 kāntàn
Portuguêsprospectar
Françaisprospecter
Русскийразве́дка razvédka
العربيةتَنْقِيب tanqīb

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Cite this
MLA

"prospect." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/prospect. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

prospect. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/prospect

Chicago

"prospect." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/prospect.

BibTeX
@misc{prospect_2026,
  title = {prospect},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/prospect},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}