Prospect Meaning
/ˈpɹɒspɛkt/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounThe region which the eye overlooks at one time; view; scene; outlook.
nounA picturesque or panoramic view; a landscape; hence, a sketch of a landscape.
Sentence Examples
The prospect of famine hangs over many areas of the world.
Prospect is often better than possession.
There is no immediate prospect of peace.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
The company saw great ____ for growth in the Asian market next year.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The ____ of a promotion motivated her to work harder and take on additional responsibilities.
Word Origin & History
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.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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 as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 543–552:
"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 meadows washed by a stream, of which the Abbey, with all the old neglect of prospect, had scarcely a sight ..."
— 1815, Jane Austen, Emma, volume III, chapter 6:
"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:
"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 as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 77–79:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The company saw great ____ for growth in the Asian market next year.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The ____ of a promotion motivated her to work harder and take on additional responsibilities.