prospect

English

Etymology

Latin prospectus, past participle of prospicere, to look forward, from pro, before, forward + specere, spicere, to look, to see

Pronunciation

• (noun)
  • (RP): /ˈprɒspɛkt/, /"prQspEkt/
  • (US): präsʹpĕkt, /ˈprɑːspɛkt/, /"prA:spEkt/
• (verb) enPR: prə-spĕktʹ, IPA: /prəˈspɛkt/, X-SAMPA: /pr@"spEkt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

  Rhymes: -ɛkt

Noun

prospect (plural prospects)

1. The potential things that may come to pass, often favorable.
   • 1788, James Hutton, Theory of the earth, page 166:

     The result, therefore, of this physical inquiry is, that we find no vestige of a beginning,— no prospect of an end.

   • 2011 September 2, Phil McNulty, “Bulgaria 0-3 England”, BBC:

     And a further boost to England's qualification prospects came after the final whistle when Wales recorded a 2-1 home win over group rivals Montenegro, who Capello's men face in their final qualifier.

2. A hope; a hopeful.
   • 2011 November 10, Jeremy Wilson, “England Under 21 5 Iceland Under 21 0: match report”, Telegraph:

     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 than Theo Walcott.

3. (sports) Any player whose rights are owned by a top-level professional team, but who has yet to play a game for said team.
4. (music) The facade of an organ.

Translations

potential things that may come to pass, usually favorable

• Arabic: توقع (ar), احتمال (ar), أمل (ar), إمكانية (ar)
• Catalan: prospeccions
• Czech: vyhlídka (cs) f
• Dutch: vooruitzicht (nl) n
• Finnish: mahdollisuus (fi)
• French: perspective (fr) f

• Hungarian: kilátás (hu)
• Japanese: 見通し (ja) (mitoushi)
• Polish: perspektywa (pl) f
• Russian: перспектива (ru) (perspektiva)
• Scottish Gaelic: dùil (gd) f
• Spanish: expectativa (es), prospectiva (es)

Verb

prospect (third-person singular simple present prospects, present participle prospecting, simple past and past participle prospected)

1. (intransitive) To search, as for gold.

Translations

to search as for gold

• Catalan: fer prospeccions
• Finnish: etsiä (fi)
• French: prospecter (fr)

• Polish: poszukiwać (pl)
• Spanish: posibilidad (es)