projection

Noun

projection (countable and uncountable, plural projections)

1. Something which projects, protrudes, juts out, sticks out, or stands out.
   • The face of the cliff had many projections that were big enough for birds to nest on.
   • Originally the opening had doubtless marked the projection of another road, but the scheme had come to nothing.1923, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], “(please specify the page)”, in The Eyes of Max Carrados, London: Grant Richards, →OCLC

   Synonyms:

   protuberance, appendix

2. The action of projecting or throwing or propelling something.
3. (archaic) The crisis or decisive point of any process, especially a culinary process.
4. The display of an image by devices such as movie projector, video projector, overhead projector or slide projector.
5. A forecast or prognosis obtained by extrapolation.
   • Some projections have estimated that Shah’s party is on track to secure around 184 seats in the 275-member House of Representatives.2026 March 11, Chad de Guzman, “Who Is Balendra Shah, the Rapper On Track to Become Nepal’s Next Prime Minister”, in TIME, archived from the original on 11 Mar 2026
6. A belief or assumption that others have similar thoughts and experiences to one's own, including making accusations that would more fittingly apply to the accuser.
   • Projection is another mechanism of defense and is one that is utilized almost universally to explain one's minor mistakes, and in many cases the minor failures as well. By projection we place the blame for our acts upon others....1937, John W. Vann, “To What Extent Is Reality Adjustment Concerned In The Selection Of The Flying Trainee?”, in United States Naval Medical Bulletin, volume 35, page 437
   • The morality of patriarchy, Mary Daly argues, is charactrized by "a failure to lay claim to that part of the psyche that is then projected onto 'the Other.'"1980 May, Judith Plaskow, “Blaming Jews for Inventing Patriarchy”, in Lilith Magazine, volume 7
7. The image that a translucent object casts onto another object.
8. Any of several systems of intersecting lines that allow the curved surface of the earth to be represented on a flat surface. The set of mathematics used to calculate coordinate positions.
9. An image of an object on a surface of fewer dimensions.
10. An idempotent linear transformation which maps vectors from a vector space onto a subspace.
11. A transformation which extracts a fragment of a mathematical object.
12. A morphism from a categorical product to one of its (two) components.