Where does “prospect” come from?
Prospect comes from Latin prospectus, the past participle of prospicere meaning to look forward, from specere to look and the prefix pro-.
prospect (English): The region which the eye overlooks at one time;...
Definitions
- The region which the eye overlooks at one time;...
Ancestry of “prospect”, step by step
prospect traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via German Prospekt
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | German | Prospekt | brochure |
| 2 | Latin | prospectus | view, sight, prospect; panorama; watched or... |
| 3 | Latin | prospicio | I look far off; I see into the distance; I watch... |
| 4 | Latin | prō- | forward direction, forward movement |
| 5 | Proto-Italic | *pro- | pro- see the Latin entry for further meanings |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | pro- | toward, forward |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | por- | to give birth; forward, through; going, passage |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | per- | before, in front; first; to go through |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | pr̥tós | passed , crossed |
via Latin prospecto
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Latin | prospecto | I look or gaze out at; I behold; dative masculine... |
| 2 | Latin | prō | for |
| 3 | Latin | ratus | considered, having been considered; established,... |
| 4 | Latin | rēōr | to reckon, calculate |
| 5 | Proto-Italic | rēōr | to reckon, to calculate; to think, to deem, to... |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂reh₁- | to think, reason; to arrange |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂er- | to fit, to fix, to put together |