Prospect

Pronunciation

• noun
• (RP): /ˈprÉ’spÉ›kt/, /

• (US): präsʹpÄ•kt, /ˈprɑːspÉ›kt/, /

• verb enPR: prÉ™-spÄ•ktʹ, IPA: /prəˈspÉ›kt/
• Rhymes: -É›kt

Origin

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

Full definition of prospect

Noun

1. The region which the eye overlooks at one time; view; scene; outlook.
• MiltonHis eye discovers unaware
  The goodly prospect of some foreign land.
2. A picturesque or panoramic view; a landscape; hence, a sketch of a landscape.
• EvelynI went to Putney ... to take prospects in crayon.
3. A position affording a fine view; a lookout.
• 1667, Milton, Paradise LostHim God beholding from his prospect high.
4. Relative position of the front of a building or other structure; face; relative aspect.
• Bible, Ezekiel xl. 44Their prospect was toward the south.
5. The act of looking forward; foresight; anticipation.
• John Lockea very ill prospect of a future state
• TillotsonIs he a prudent man as to his temporal estate, that lays designs only for a day, without any prospect to, or provision for, the remaining part of life?
6. The potential things that may come to pass, often favorable.
• 1788, James Hutton, Theory of the earth, The result, therefore, of this physical inquiry is, that we find no vestige of a beginning,— no prospect of an end.
• 1898, Winston Churchill, The Celebrity Chapter 2, We drove back to the office with some concern on my part at the prospect of so large a case. Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke. He was dressed out in broad gaiters and bright tweeds, like an English tourist, and his face might have belonged to Dagon, idol of the Philistines.
• 2011, September 2, Phil McNulty, Bulgaria 0-3 England, 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.
• 2013-06-07, Joseph Stiglitz, Globalisation is about taxes too, It is time the international community faced the reality: we have an unmanageable, unfair, distortionary global tax regime. … It is the starving of the public sector which has been pivotal in America no longer being the land of opportunity – with a child's life prospects more dependent on the income and education of its parents than in other advanced countries.
7. A hope; a hopeful.
• 2011, November 10, Jeremy Wilson, England Under 21 5 Iceland Under 21 0: match report, 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.
8. (sports) Any player whose rights are owned by a top-level professional team, but who has yet to play a game for said team.
9. (music) The façade of an organ.

Verb

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