prospective

English

Etymology

From Middle French prospectif, from Late Latin prospectivus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɹəˈspɛktɪv/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛktɪv

Adjective

prospective (not comparable)

1. Likely or expected to happen or become.

   Prospective students are those who have already applied to the university, but have yet to be admitted.

2. Anticipated in the near or far future.
3. Of or relating to a prospect; furnishing a prospect.
   • 1626 (date written), John Milton, “At a Vacation Exercise in the Colledge, […]”, in Poems, &c. upon Several Occasions, London: […] Tho[mas] Dring […], published 1673, →OCLC, page 67:

     And in times long and dark Proſpective Glaſs / Fore-ſaw what future dayes ſhould bring to paſs,

4. Looking forward in time; acting with foresight.
   • 1668-1690, Josiah Child, A new discourse of trade

     The French king, and the king of Sweden are […] circumspect, industrious, and prospective, too, in this affair.

5. (medicine, of research) A study that starts with the present situation and follows participants into the future
6. (grammar) Indicating grammatically an activity about to begin.

   What some other languages convey with prospective aspect, English conveys with expressions like going to drive the car home.

Translations

likely or expected to happen or become

• Bulgarian: очакван (bg) (očakvan)
• Czech: nastávající
• Finnish: tuleva (fi), mahdollinen (fi)
• French: prospectif (fr)
• Georgian: პოტენციური (ṗoṭenciuri), სავარაუდო (savaraudo)
• German: voraussichtlich (de), zukünftig (de), künftig (de), prospektiv (de)
• Greek: ενδεχόμενος (el) m (endechómenos)
• Hungarian: jövendőbeli (hu)
• Icelandic: tilvonandi
• Italian: probabile (it), eventuale (it)
• Portuguese: prospectivo
• Russian: перспекти́вный (ru) (perspektívnyj), предполага́емый (ru) (predpolagájemyj), потенциа́льный (ru) (potenciálʹnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: dòchasach
• Turkish: muhtemel (tr), olası (tr)

following the same population

• French: prospectif (fr)
• Georgian: მოსალოდნელი (mosalodneli)
• Italian: prospettivo
• Portuguese: prospectivo, prospetivo
• Spanish: prospectivo

Noun

prospective (plural prospectives)

1. (obsolete) The scene before or around, in time or in space; view; prospect.
   • 1642, Henry Wotton, A Short View of the Life and Death of George Villiers:

     the whole Scene of affairs was changed from Spain to France there now lay the prospective

2. (obsolete) A perspective glass.
   • 1613 March 2 (first performance), Francis Beaumont, “The Masque of the Inner-Temple and Gray’s Inn, Gray’s Inn and the Inner-Temple; […]”, in The Dramatic Works of Ben Jonson, and Beaumont and Fletcher: […], volume IV, London: […] John Stockdale, […], published 1811, →OCLC, page 573, column 2:

     [T]hey [two pavillions] were trimmed on the inside with rich armour and military furniture, hanged up as upon the walls; and behind the tents there were represented, in prospective, the tops of divers other tents, as if it had been a camp.

3. (informal, often plural) A prospective (potential) member, student, employee, date, partner, etc.

   Would you like to show the prospective around?

   I'm meeting the prospectives at 3.

   • 2006, Verve: The Spirit of Today's Woman, volume 14, numbers 4-6, page 114:

     At the moment, meeting interesting, 'could be, maybe not' prospectives around the globe keeps her entertained.

See also

• inchoative

References

• prospective at OneLook Dictionary Search
• “prospective”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “prospective”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• prospective aspect on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

French

Adjective

prospective

1. feminine singular of prospectif