prospectus

English

Etymology

From French prospectus (“a prospectus”), borrowed from Latin.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɹəsˈpɛktəs/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

Noun

prospectus (plural prospectuses or prospectus)

1. A document, distributed to prospective members, investors, buyers, or participants, which describes an institution (such as a university), a publication, or a business and what it has to offer.
2. A document which describes a proposed endeavor (venture, undertaking), such as a literary work (which one proposes to write).
3. A booklet or other document giving details of a share offer for the benefit of investors.
   • 1960 March, J. P. Wilson & E. N. C. Haywood, “The route through the Peak - Derby to Manchester: Part One”, in Trains Illustrated, page 148:

     The Manchester, Buxton, Matlock & Midlands Junction Railway, which was the title of this project, issued its prospectus on May 30, 1845, and announced that "this Company is formed to complete the communication by Railway between Lancashire and the East Districts. [...]". The capital to be raised was £800,000.

   • 2021 May 18, Jack Ewing; Lauren Hirsch, “The Big Money Is Going Vegan”, in The New York Times‎^[1], ISSN 0362-4331:

     Just in case, Oatly’s prospectus gives it the option of listing in Hong Kong if the foreign ownership becomes a problem in the United States.

Translations

document which describes an institution, publication or business

• Armenian: ազդագիր (hy) (azdagir)
• Bulgarian: проспект m (prospekt)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Finnish: esite
• French: prospectus (fr) m
• German: Prospekt (de) m
• Hungarian: ismertető (hu)
• Icelandic: kynningarbæklingur (is) m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: prospekt n

  Nynorsk: prospekt n

• Russian: please add this translation if you can
• Spanish: prospecto (es) m

document which describes a proposed endeavor

• Finnish: esite

booklet or other document giving details of a share offer

• Finnish: esite

References

• “prospectus”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

French

Etymology

Latin prospectus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pʁɔs.pɛk.tys/

Noun

prospectus m (plural prospectus)

1. prospectus, leaflet
   • 1923, Marcel Proust, chapter 1, in La Prisonnière [The Prisoner] (À la recherche du temps perdu)‎^[2]:

     […] Bergotte ne fit plus venir de médecin et essaya avec succès, mais avec excès, de différents narcotiques, lisant avec confiance le prospectus accompagnant chacun d'eux, prospectus qui proclamait la nécessité du sommeil mais insinuait que tous les produits qui l'amènent (sauf celui contenu dans le flacon qu'il enveloppait et qui ne produisait jamais d'intoxication) étaient toxiques et par là rendaient le remède pire que le mal.

     […] Bergotte no longer sent for a doctor, and tried successfully, but excessively, different narcotics, reading with confidence the prospectus which accompanied each one; a prospectus which proclaimed the need for sleep, but hinted that all the preparations which induce it (except the one contained in the bottle, which never produced intoxication) were toxic, and thus made the remedy worse than the disease.

Further reading

• “prospectus”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Latin

Etymology

Perfect passive participle of prōspiciō.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /prosˈpek.tus/, [prɔs̠ˈpɛkt̪ʊs̠]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /prosˈpek.tus/, [prosˈpɛkt̪us]

Noun

prospectus m (genitive prospectūs); fourth declension

1. view, sight, prospect
   • Caes. G. 2, 22:

     in prospectu esse

   • 78, Plinius, Naturalis Historia, XIX, 59

     iam in fenestris suis plebs urbana imagine hortorum cotidiana oculis rura praebebant, antequam praefigi prospectus omnes coegit multitudinis innumerae saeva latrocinatio.

2. panorama
   • 2015, Francisci, Laudato si' §85:

     Ex amplissimis prospectibus ad minimam vitae formam, natura mirationem reverentiamque indesinenter concitat

     From panoramic vistas to the tiniest living form, nature is a constant source of wonder and awe.

Declension

Fourth-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	prospectus	prospectūs
Genitive	prospectūs	prospectuum
Dative	prospectuī	prospectibus
Accusative	prospectum	prospectūs
Ablative	prospectū	prospectibus
Vocative	prospectus	prospectūs

Related terms

• prospicio

Descendants

• → Catalan: prospecte
• → English: prospect
• → French: prospectus
  • → English: prospectus
• → German: Prospekt
  • → Macedonian: проспект (prospekt)
  • → Russian: проспе́кт (prospékt)
    • → Armenian: պրոսպեկտ (prospekt)
    • → Azerbaijani: prospekt
  • → Serbo-Croatian: про̀спект, pròspekt
• → Norwegian: prospekt
• → Spanish: prospecto

Participle

prōspectus (feminine prōspecta, neuter prōspectum); first/second-declension participle

1. watched or looked (out)
2. discerned
3. foreseen

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

Number	Singular				Plural
Case / Gender	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	prōspectus	prōspecta	prōspectum		prōspectī	prōspectae	prōspecta
Genitive	prōspectī	prōspectae	prōspectī		prōspectōrum	prōspectārum	prōspectōrum
Dative	prōspectō		prōspectō		prōspectīs
Accusative	prōspectum	prōspectam	prōspectum		prōspectōs	prōspectās	prōspecta
Ablative	prōspectō	prōspectā	prōspectō		prōspectīs
Vocative	prōspecte	prōspecta	prōspectum		prōspectī	prōspectae	prōspecta

References

• “prospectus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “prospectus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• prospectus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[3], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • one has a view over...; one is able to see as far as..: prospectus est ad aliquid