FromMiddle Frenchprospectif, fromLate Latinprospectivus. See more atEnglishprospect.
prospective (notcomparable)
- Likely orexpected tohappen orbecome.
Prospective students are those who have already applied to the university, but have yet to be admitted.
- Anticipated in thenear orfarfuture.
1968, Herold Jacob Wiens, “I-CH’ANG”, inEncyclopedia Britannica[1], volume11,→LCCN,→OCLC,page1054, column 1:A short distance above I-ch’ang is theprospective site of a hydroelectric dam that has vast promise for the industrialization of central China.
- Of or relating to aprospect; furnishing a prospect.
1626 (date written), John Milton, “At a Vacation Exercise in the Colledge, […]”, inPoems, &c. upon Several Occasions, London: […] Tho[mas] Dring […], published1673,→OCLC,page67:And in times long and darkProſpective Glaſs / Fore-ſaw what future dayes ſhould bring to paſs,
- Looking forward in time; acting withforesight.
- 1668-1690,Josiah Child,A new discourse of trade
- The French king, and the king of Sweden are […] circumspect, industrious, andprospective, too, in this affair.
- (medicine, of research) Being a study that starts with the present situation and follows participants into the future
- (grammar) Indicating grammatically anactivity about to begin.
What some other languages convey withprospective aspect, English conveys with expressions likegoing to drive the car home.
likely or expected to happen or become
following the same population
prospective (pluralprospectives)
- (obsolete) Thescene before or around, in time or in space;view;prospect.
- (obsolete) Aperspective glass.
1613 March 2 (first performance),Francis Beaumont, “The Masque of the Inner-Temple and Gray’s Inn, Gray’s Inn and the Inner-Temple; […]”, inThe Dramatic Works of Ben Jonson, and Beaumont and Fletcher: […], volume IV, London: […] John Stockdale, […], published1811,→OCLC,page573, column 2:[T]hey [two pavillions] were trimmed on the inside with rich armour and military furniture, hanged up as upon the walls; and behind the tents there were represented, inprospective, the tops of divers other tents, as if it had been a camp.
- (informal, often plural) Aprospective (potential)member,student,employee,date,partner, etc.
Would you like to show theprospective around?
I'm meeting theprospectives at 3.
2006,Verve: The Spirit of Today's Woman, volume14, numbers4-6, page114:At the moment, meeting interesting, 'could be, maybe not'prospectives around the globe keeps her entertained.
- “prospective”, inOneLook Dictionary Search.
- “prospective”, inWebster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.:G. & C. Merriam,1913,→OCLC.
- William Dwight Whitney,Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “prospective”, inThe Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.:The Century Co.,→OCLC.
prospective aspect on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
prospective
- femininesingular ofprospectif
