prospective
/pɹəˈspektɪv/pruh-SPEK-tiv
/pɹəˈspɛktɪv/pruh-SPEK-tiv
Meaninglooking forward
Common meaning: likely to happen or become
- proforward; forth
- spectto look at, watchLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 1737 · scan
- iveadjective ending: tending to
‘forward’ + ‘to look at, watch’ → prospective
Journey through time
- Latinprospectus‘a view’source
- Englishprospect‘a view’
- Englishformed in English from prospectprospective‘likely to happen or become’ · today
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Formed in English from prospect + -ive.
Dictionary: Skeat (1898), PROSPECT, p.472 · scan
Roots
- speciō (spiciō), spexī, spectum Latin “to look at, watch”
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