Word.ws English Dictionary

prospect

Syllables: pros·pect/ˈpɹɒspɛkt//ˈpɹɑspɛkt/

prospect noun: the region which the eye overlooks at one time; a view; a scene; an outlook.

Noun

prospect (plural prospects)

  1. The region which the eye overlooks at one time; a view; a scene; an outlook.
    • As when a Scout[…]Obtains the brow of ſome high-climbing Hill, / Which to his eye diſcovers unaware / The goodly proſpect of ſome forein land / Firſt-ſeen, or ſome renownd Metropolis / With gliſtering Spires and Pinnacles adornd, / Which now the Riſing Sun guilds with his beams.1667, John Milton, “Book III”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...
  2. A picturesque or panoramic view; a landscape; hence, a sketch of a landscape.
    • I went to Putney, and other places on the Thames, to take prospects in crayon, to carry into France, where I thought to have them engraved.1649 June 20, John Evelyn, edited by William Bray, John Evelyn's Diary, volume 1, London: Henry Colburn, published 1850, page 251
    • She felt all the honest pride and complacency which her alliance with the present and future proprietor could fairly warrant, as she viewed the respectable size and style of the building, its suitable, becoming, characteristic situation, low and sheltered—its ample gardens stretching down to...1815, Jane Austen, Emma, volume III, chapter 6
  3. A position affording a fine view; a lookout.
    • Him God beholding from his proſpect high, / Wherein paſt, preſent, future he beholds, / Thus to his onely Son forſeeing ſpake.1667, John Milton, “Book III”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...
  4. A relative position of the front of a building or other structure; a face; a relative aspect.
    • Their prospect was toward the south.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Ezekiel 40:44
  5. The act of looking forward; foresight; anticipation.
    • a very ill prospect of a future state1689 (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. […], London: […] Eliz[abeth] Holt, for Thomas Basset, […], →OCLC
    • Is 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?1663, John Tillotson, The Wisdom of being Religious
  6. The potential things that may come to pass, often favorable.
    • The result, therefore, of this physical inquiry is, that we find no vestige of a beginning,— no prospect of an end.1788, James Hutton, Theory of the earth, page 166
    • 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...1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter II, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC
    Synonyms:
    outcome
  7. A hope; a hopeful.
    • 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...2011 November 10, Jeremy Wilson, “England Under 21 5 Iceland Under 21 0: match report”, in Telegraph
  8. Any player whose rights are owned by a top-level professional team, but who has yet to play a game for said team.
  9. (sales) A potential client or customer.
  10. The façade of an organ.

Verb (1)

prospect (third-person singular simple present prospects, present participle prospecting, simple past and past participle prospected)

  1. (intransitive) To search, as for gold.
    • Among the ancient sites in the Taklamakan Desert which are frequented by Khotan "treasure seekers," and which the prospecting parties sent out by me had visited, none seemed to offer better opportunities for systematic excavations than the one known to them as Dandan-Uilik.1904, M. A. Stein, “A Journey of Geographical and Archaeological Exploration in Chinese Turkestan”, in Annual report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution 1903, Washington, D.C....
  2. To determine which minerals or metals are present in a location.

Verb (2)

prospect (third-person singular simple present prospects, present participle prospecting, simple past and past participle prospected)

  1. (intransitive, obsolete) To have or afford a view; to face or look out.
    • This poynte ſemethe as though it woolde inuade the monte Atlas in Aphrica. Foꝛ it pꝛoſpectethe [translating spectat] towarde that parte of Aphꝛike, whiche the poꝛtugales caule Caput Bonæ Sperantiæ.1555, Peter Martyr of Angleria [i.e., Peter Martyr d’Anghiera], “The Seuenth Booke of the Seconde Decade of the Supposed Continente”, in Rycharde Eden [i.e., Richard Eden], transl., The Decades of...
    • All men, whoſe experience by trauaile is a wytnes of the ſingularities of Italye, and ſpaine, are of opinion I am ſewer, that naples, is one of yͤ moſt riche pleaſante and Populus cities in evrope, bothe foꝛ the beautie and fartilitie of the countreye rounde aboute, the magnifical plat and...1567, [Matteo Bandello], translated by Geffraie Fenton, “The Villennie of an Abbot in Sekinge to Seduce a Mayde by Force and Her Vertue in Defendyng Her Honor against Him and His Companyons of...
  2. (obsolete, transitive) To look or face towards; to view.
    • Beynge therfoꝛe ioyfull and gladde of the frendeſhyppe of owre men, he tooke the capitaine by the hand and bꝛought him with certeine of his familiars to the higheſt towre of his palaice, from whenſe they myght proſpecte [translating dispectare] the mayne ſea.1555, Peter Martyr of Angleria [i.e., Peter Martyr d’Anghiera], translated by Rycharde Eden [i.e., Richard Eden], The Decades of the Newe Worlde or West India, […], London: […] [Rycharde Jug for]...
    • […] [Andreas] Veſalius no leſſe taketh part agaynſt him, openyng the window of light, on the clearer ſide, pꝛoſpecting the Sunne, as manifeſtly appeareth by that is gone befoꝛe.1578, Iohn Banister, “[…] Of Bones, the Frame of the Body.”, in The Historie of Man, […], London: […] Iohn Daye, […], →OCLC, folio 19, verso

Proper noun capitalized: Prospect

Prospect

  1. A town in New Haven County, Connecticut.
  2. An unincorporated community in Jasper County, Georgia.
  3. A census-designated place in French Lick Township, Orange County, Indiana.
  4. A city in Jefferson County and Oldham County, Kentucky.
  5. A town in Waldo County, Maine.
  6. A hamlet in the town of Trenton, Oneida County, New York.
  7. A census-designated place in Robeson County, North Carolina.
  8. A village in Marion County, Ohio.
  9. A census-designated place in Jackson County, Oregon.
  10. A borough in Butler County, Pennsylvania.
  11. An unincorporated community in Bradley County, Tennessee.
  12. An unincorporated community in Giles County, Tennessee.
Show 5 more meaningsShow fewer meanings
  1. An unincorporated community in Prince Edward County, Virginia.
  2. A suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
  3. An inner suburb of Adelaide, South Australia.
  4. A local government area in Adelaide, which includes the suburb; in full, the City of Prospect.
  5. A suburb of Launceston, northern Tasmania, Australia.

prospect meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Telugu

prospect in Tamil

எதிர்பார்ப்பு, வளம், வாய்ப்பு

prospect in Urdu

امکان, کیفیت, نقشہ, تناظر

prospect in Bengali

প্রত্যাশা, আশা, দৃশ্য, দৃষ্টি, বিস্তৃত দৃশ্য, মানসিক দৃশ্য

prospect in Telugu

prospect, potential, capability
కనుబడి kanubaḍi
More languagesFewer languages
prospect in Malayalam
വീക്ഷണം, പ്രത്യാശ, വിജയസാധ്യത
prospect in Kannada
ಹರವು ಕಾಣ್ಕೆ, ಹರವು ನೋಟ, ಹೊರನೋಟ, ಎದುರು ನೋಡುವಿಕೆ
prospect in Arabic
توقع, احتمال, أمل, إِمْكَانِيَّة ʔimkāniyya

Examples of prospect in a sentence

  • The wide prospect up stream was grey and lowering, the long still-distant waterfront of Dundee, and the Fife shore were alike colourless, and there was ample evidence of rough weather not far ahead.1947 January and February, O. S. Nock, “"The Aberdonian" in Wartime”, in Railway Magazine, page 7:
  • We drove back to the office with some concern on my part at the prospect of so large a case.1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter II, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company...
  • Prospects for the construction of a Channel tunnel now appear to be brighter than they have been for some time.1960 March, “The Channel Tunnel Scheme”, in Railway Magazine, page 148:
  • 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.2011 September 2, Phil McNulty, “Bulgaria 0-3 England”, in BBC:

All 40 example sentences with prospect

Synonyms of prospect

Forms of prospect

Noun
pluralprospects
Verb
third-person singular presentprospects
present participleprospecting
past participleprospected
pastprospected

Plural of prospect: prospects

Origin of prospect

From Middle English prospecte, from Latin prōspectus (“view, sight, prospect; panorama”), from prōspiciō (“to look forward”) + -tus (suffix forming action nouns), from pro (“before, forward”) + speciō, spiciō (“to look, to see”). By surface analysis, pro- + -spect. Doublet of prospectus and prospekt. The verb is from the noun.

Learned borrowing from Latin prōspectō.

Words formed from prospect

Words that rhyme with prospect

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about prospect

What does prospect mean?
Prospect means the region which the eye overlooks at one time; a view; a scene; an outlook.
What is prospect in Tamil?
Prospect in Tamil is எதிர்பார்ப்பு, வளம், வாய்ப்பு. See Prospect meaning in Tamil.
How do you use prospect in a sentence?
The wide prospect up stream was grey and lowering, the long still-distant waterfront of Dundee, and the Fife shore were alike colourless, and there was ample evidence of rough weather not far ahead.
What part of speech is prospect?
Prospect can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce prospect?
Prospect is pronounced /ˈpɹɒspɛkt/ (UK).
What is the plural of prospect?
The plural of prospect is prospects.

Words near prospect in the dictionary

  1. prosopyle
  2. prosopyles
  3. prosorhochmid
  4. prosp'rous
  5. Prospaltian
  6. prospect
  7. Prospect Vale
  8. prospected
  9. prospectin'
  10. prospecting
  11. prospectings

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: prospect (page history and authors); Prospect (page history and authors); prospect (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); prospect (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); prospect (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); కనుబడి (Telugu) (page history and authors); prospect (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); prospect (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-prospect (noun).wav, En-us-prospect.ogg.

Cite this entry: “prospect.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/prospect. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.