prosper

See also: pròsper, Pròsper, and Prosper

English

Alternative forms

• prospre (obsolete, rare)

Etymology

From Old French prosperer, from Latin prosperō (“to render happy”), from prosperus (“prosperous”), from Proto-Italic *prosparos, from Proto-Indo-European *speh₁- (“to succeed”), whence also Latin spēs (“hope, expectation”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈpɹɒspə(ɹ)/

  • Audio (UK):

    (file)

• (General American, Atlantic Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈpɹɑspɚ/
• (Canada, dialects of the US) IPA^(key): /ˈpɹɒspɚ/
• (Australia) IPA^(key): /ˈpɹɔspə(ɹ)/

Verb

prosper (third-person singular simple present prospers, present participle prospering, simple past and past participle prospered)

1. (intransitive) To be successful; to succeed; to be fortunate or prosperous; to thrive; to make gain.
   • 1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide:

     Yet his passion for her had grown fiercer than ever, and he swore to himself that he would win her back from her phantasies. She, one may believe, was ready enough to listen. As she walked with him by the Sker water his words were like musick to her ears, and Alison within doors laughed to herself and saw her devices prosper.

2. (intransitive) To grow; to increase.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 39:3:

     And his master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand.

3. (transitive, obsolete) To favor; to render successful.
   • 1549 March 7, Thomas Cranmer [et al.], compilers, The Booke of the Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacramentes, […], London: […] Edowardi Whitchurche […], →OCLC:

     Prosper thou our handiwork.

   • 1878 [1584], Clement Robinson, “A new Courtly Sonet, of the Lady Greensleeues” (stanza 18), in Edward Arber, editor, A Handful of Pleasant Delights:

     Greensleeues now farewel adue
     God I pray to prosper thee:
     For I am stil thy louer true,
     come once againe and loue me.

   • c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act I, scene ii:

     The Gods defenders of the innocent,
     Will neuer proſper your intended driftes,
     That thus oppreſſe poore friendles paſſengers.

   • 1700, [John] Dryden, “Iphis and Ianthe”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:

     All things concur to prosper our design.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:prosper

Derived terms

• cheaters never prosper
• cheats never prosper
• ill-gotten gains never prosper
• live long and prosper
• prosperer
• prosperingly
• prosperity
• prosperless
• prosperous
• unprospered

Translations

to be successful

• Arabic: ازدهر
• Bulgarian: преуспя́вам (bg) impf (preuspjávam), проспери́рам (bg) impf (prosperíram), благоденствам impf (blagodenstvam)
• Catalan: prosperar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 亨祚 (zh) (hēngzuò), 興旺 / 兴旺 (zh) (xīngwàng), 繁榮 / 繁荣 (zh) (fánróng), 昌盛 (zh) (chāngshèng)

• Czech: prosperovat impf
• Dutch: welvaren (nl)
• Esperanto: prosperi
• Finnish: voida hyvin, to grow, gain fortune: vaurastua (fi), menestyä (fi)
• French: prospérer (fr)
• Galician: prosperar (gl)
• German: gedeihen (de), prosperieren (de), florieren (de)
• Gothic: 𐌸𐌴𐌹𐌷𐌰𐌽 (þeihan)
• Greek: ευημερώ (el) (evimeró)
• Hindi: संपन्न (hi) (sampann), समृद्ध (hi) (samŕddh)
• Hungarian: prosperál (hu), virágzik (hu)
• Italian: prosperare (it)
• Japanese: 栄える (ja) (さかえる, sakaeru), 賑わう (ja) (にぎわう, nigiwau)
• Lao: ຈະເລີນ (cha lœ̄n), ຮຸ່ງເຮືອງ (hung hư̄ang)
• Latin: vigeō
• Occitan: prosperar (oc)
• Old English: þēon
• Polish: prosperować (pl) impf, kwitnąć (pl) impf
• Portuguese: prosperar (pt)
• Russian: процвета́ть (ru) impf (procvetátʹ), преуспева́ть (ru) impf (preuspevátʹ), благоде́нствовать (ru) impf (blagodénstvovatʹ)
• Sanskrit: एधते (sa) (edhate), पुष्यति (sa) (puṣyati)
• Shan: ၶိုၼ်ႈယႂ်ႇမႂ်ႇသုင် (khūen yàue màue sǔng), မၢၵ်ႈမီးလီပဵၼ် (shn) (māak míi lǐi pǎen)
• Spanish: prosperar (es)
• Thai: เจริญ (th) (jà-rəən), รุ่งเรือง (th) (rûng-rʉʉang)
• Turkish: başarmak (tr)
• Ukrainian: процвіта́ти impf (procvitáty)

Anagrams

• Propers, propers, prospre

Latin

Adjective

prosper (feminine prospera, neuter prosperum); first/second-declension adjective (nominative masculine singular in -er)

1. alternative form of prosperus (singular masculine nominative)

Declension

First/second-declension adjective (nominative masculine singular in -er).

	singular				plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	prosper	prospera	prosperum		prosperī	prosperae	prospera
genitive	prosperī	prosperae	prosperī		prosperōrum	prosperārum	prosperōrum
dative	prosperō	prosperae	prosperō		prosperīs
accusative	prosperum	prosperam	prosperum		prosperōs	prosperās	prospera
ablative	prosperō	prosperā	prosperō		prosperīs
vocative	prosper	prospera	prosperum		prosperī	prosperae	prospera

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French prospère.

Adjective

prosper m or n (feminine singular prosperă, masculine plural prosperi, feminine/neuter plural prospere)

1. prosperous

Declension

Declension of prosper

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	prosper		prosperă	prosperi	prospere
	definite	prosperul		prospera	prosperii	prosperele
genitive- dative	indefinite	prosper		prospere	prosperi	prospere
	definite	prosperului		prosperei	prosperilor	prosperelor

Related terms

• prosperitate