prospectiven.adj.
/prəˈspɛktɪv/, U.S. /prəˈspɛktɪv/, /prɑˈspɛktɪv/ A. n.† 1. † 2. † 3. † 5.
a. A device which allows one to see objects or events not immediately present: (a) = prospective glass n. 1; (b) = prospective glass n. 2. Obsolete. [In quot. c1395 perhaps an error for perspective n. 2a: see note in etymology.]
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > foresight, foreknowledge > prediction, foretelling > crystal-gazing > [noun] > object used in
crystal stonea1387
crystala1400
crystal ball?a1513
prospective glassa1584
prospective stonea1584
show-stone1583
prospective1604
seeing-stone1680
ink-mirror1905
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > optical instruments > instrument for distant vision > [noun]
glass1616
prospective glass1616
prospect-glass1617
prospectivea1635
prospect1639
spying-glass1682
spyglass1707
the world > health and disease > healing > ophthalmology or optometry > aids to defective vision > [noun] > spectacles
spectaclec1386
a pair of spectacles1423
ocularies?a1425
barnaclea1566
eye1568
sight-glasses1605
glass eye1608
prospective glass1616
sights1619
prospectivea1635
nose-compasses1654
glass1660
lunettes1681
peeper1699
eyeglass1760
specs1807
winker1816
gig-lamps1853
nose-riders1875
window1896
cheaters1920
c1395 G. Chaucer Squire's Tale 234 They speke of Alocen and Vitulon And of Aristotle þat writen..Of queynte mirours and of perspectyues [v.rr. perspecsitiuis, prospectyues, prospecsatiuis; profectyues].
1585 S. Daniel tr. P. Giovio Worthy Tract contayning Disc. Imprese sig. Di Sunne beames passing through a peece of Christall, beeing so strengthened through their vniting, according to the nature of the Prospectiue, that they burne euery obiect.
1604 S. Daniel Vision 12 Goddesses Ded. And withal delivers her a Prospective, wherein she might behold the Figures of their Deities, and thereby describe them.
a1635 R. Corbet Poems (1647) 91 Lastly of fingers, glasses we contrive, And every fist is made a prospective.
1657 W. Morice Coena quasi Κοινὴ ii. 35 Turning the wrong end of the Prospective, to make things at hand seem to be far off.
1678 in J. Raine Depos. Castle of York (1861) 233 Pollishing glasses for prospectives and spectackles and mycroscops.
1727 A. Hamilton New Acct. E. Indies I. i. 14 Those on board the Ship, saw, by their Prospectives, what was acted Ashore.
1778 J. F. Fritsch tr. G. de Lairesse Art of Painting vii. 278 I have often wondered at such small paintings, because they seemed as if I was looking..through a prospective.
b. figurative. Obsolete.
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1591 S. Daniel Sonnet xxi, in Sir P. Sidney Astrophel & Stella 73 That hart is now the prospectiue of horror.
1596 C. Fitzgeffry Sir Francis Drake sig. E8v High throne, wherein all vertues made their seate, True prospective of immortality.
c1605 S. Daniel Addr. to Ld. Hertford (extra inserted leaf) in Panegyric (STC 6259) Must I judge of this case..as my selfe do stand looking thorow the prospectiue of mine owne imagination.
1615 W. Fennor Fennors Def. sig. A6 I Haue lookt ouer with my best Prospectiues, And view'd the tenor of thy base Inuectiues.
a. The art of drawing in perspective; (also) an image so conceived or drawn, a scene or view in perspective; = perspective n. 3. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > thing seen > appearance or aspect > [noun] > as affected by position
prospective1533
view1658
perspective1826
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > perspective > [noun]
prospective1533
perspective1563
slantinga1618
scene painting1706
scenography1738
skiagraphy1850
1533 T. Elyot Of Knowl. Wise Man i. f. 19 A cunnynge paynter, whiche..wyll sette out the fygure perfaictly..by prospectiue: that..the bodi and membres shuld shewe to them as rounde and fulle, as it were imbosed and wrought in tymber, metall, or stone.
1561 T. Hoby tr. B. Castiglione Courtyer i. sig. K.i In this poynt he must haue an other craft that is greater to frame those membres, that they may seeme short and diminishe accordinge to the proportion of the sight by the way of prospectiue.
1613 I. Jones in Burlington Mag. (1917) Aug. 62/1 The Prospectives ar 5 the wiedest is a streete of houses Temples and suchlicke.
1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §98 Such Superficiall Speculations they have; Like Prospectives, that shew things inward, when they are but Paintings.
a1652 I. Jones Most Notable Antiq. called Stone-Heng (1655) 63 The Ruine yet remaining drawn in Prospective.
1665 B. Gerbier Brief Disc. Princ. Building (new ed.) 5 An Exact Architect must have the Art of Drawing, and Prospective.
a1677 J. Taylor Contempl. State Man (1684) i. ii. 22 Those who work in Prospective, will so paint a Room, that the Light entring onely thorow some little hole, you shall perceive beautiful and perfect Figures and Shapes.
1701 E. Settle Virgin Prophetess 22 Out of this set are drawn forth on each side, two more sets of Senes exactly Unison with the Inner set..and the whole three Prospectives now reaching to Twenty five Foot width.
1855 Times 6 Jan. 4 The Watford Corn Exchange Company are desirous of receiving designs for their intended Exchange Building... The plans to be drawn to a uniform scale... The prospectives must not be coloured.
b. Heraldry. A technique used to give the appearance of perspective in a heraldic design. Obsolete. rare.
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1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory i. x. 107/1 He beareth Barry Bendy (or Pally Barry) in Prospective, Argent and Sable.
?1828 W. Berry Encycl. Heraldica I. Gloss. Perspective, or Prospective, is used, in blazon, to express divisional lines forming a kind of pavement with diminishing squares in perspective, as paly barry, or barry bendy, in perspective, or prospective wise.
a. A scene or view; a landscape; = prospect n. 3. Also figurative. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > thing seen > [noun] > view or scenery
regardc1500
prospect1573
discovery1587
prospective1599
view1606
perspective1612
landscape?a1645
vista1657
coup d'œil1739
scape1773
survey1821
outlook1828
eyeshot1860
outscape1868
1599 H. Porter Pleasant Hist. Two Angrie Women of Abington sig. B As prospectiues [t]he neerer that they be, Yeeld better iudgement to the iudging eye.
a1639 H. Wotton View Life & Death Duke of Buckingham in Reliquiæ Wottonianæ (1651) 93 The whole Scene of affairs was changed from Spain to France; there now lay the prospective.
1745 P. Thomas True Jrnl. Voy. South-Seas 188 When the Canal runs in a strait Line, as they usually do, it makes a Prospective at once stately and agreeable.
1800 Mysterious Penitent I. iv. 76 His gloomy meditations began to give way to more agreeable pictures..enlivened by that sunshine with which the Goddess [sc. Hope]..so successfully gilds her prospectives.
1825 Times 6 June 6 The residence is happily placed on an eminence..with a prospective of London and its environs.
b. A pictorial representation of a scene; (figurative) a description or survey, a ‘picture’ in words; = prospect n. 5, 8. Obsolete.
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the mind > language > speech > narration > description or act of describing > [noun] > a description
descriptionc1384
treatise1576
prospective1638
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > painting > painting according to subject > [noun] > landscape-painting > a landscape or view
landscape1598
prospective1638
prospect1656
view1662
surveya1684
scenery1814
1638 Inventory Viscountess Dorchester in Notes & Queries (1953) 515 A church prospective as they are att their eveninge devotion.
1658 T. Higgons tr. G. F. Busenello (title) A prospective of the naval triumph of the Venetians over the Turk.
1660 (title) A landskip: or a brief prospective of English episcopacy, drawn by three skilfull hands in Parliament: anno 1641.
4. The action of looking outward or ahead. Also figurative. Now rare. †at prospective: on the lookout (obsolete). in prospective: in view; (figurative) in prospect.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > seeing or looking > [noun] > looking out
prospective1601
prospect1691
outlooking1846
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > [adjective] > expected
futurec1374
in a possibility1523
forestalled1543
looked-for1548
anticipatec1550
expected1558
long-looked-for1562
looked1565
in expectation1570
expectable1619
expecting1621
in perspective1633
unsurprising1671
in prospect1694
perspective1710
in prospective1746–7
prospective1809
anticipated1814
presumable1825
anticipatable1872
ex ante1937
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > [adverb] > in view
prospectively1735
in prospective1746–7
1601 B. Jonson Fountaine of Selfe-love ii. iv. sig. Ev A quarter past eleuen, & n'ere a Nimph in Prospectiue . View more context for this quotation
1616 J. Lane Contin. Squire's Tale xi. 19 But lo, as Canac stoode at prospective, Her glasse discried from farr a troopes arive.
1648 J. Lane Alarum to Poets sig. Bv She cross'd the tranquill Medeterranean Sea, O're which, with long delight somnes did plea, Some other Lands in prospective to skrie.
1715 C. Johnson Country Lasses i. i 1 (stage direct.) Scene an open Country in Prospective, with a Gentleman's Seat on a Hill.
1746–7 J. Hervey Medit. (1818) 217 Now the day is gone, how short it appears! When my fond eye beheld it in prospective, it seemed a very considerable space.
1866 Mrs. H. Wood St. Martin's Eve I. ix. 165 Four thousand a year now, and six in prospective!
1890 A. Conan Doyle Sign of Four xii. 281 Miss Morstan has done me the honour to accept me as a husband in prospective.
1977 R. Leakey & R. Lewin Origins x. 239 (heading) Mankind in prospective.
a. The position from which one interprets or regards a situation; a point of view. Obsolete. rare.
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the mind > mental capacity > belief > expressed belief, opinion > mental attitude, point of view > [noun]
spectaclec1386
reckoninga1393
view1573
sect1583
prospective1603
light1610
posture1642
point of view1701
stand1819
attitude of mind1832
psychology1834
standpoint1834
perspective1841–8
position1845
viewpoint1856
angle1860
way of looking at it1861
attitudea1873
pose1892
Anschauung1895
slant1905
1603 S. Daniel Def. Ryme in Panegyrike (new ed.) sig. H4 Men; who standing according to the prospectiue of their owne humour, seeme to see the selfe same things to appeare otherwise to them, than either they doe to other, or are indeede in themselues.
b. A place for viewing; a vantage point; = prospect n. 1d. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > thing seen > place where view obtained > [noun] > place where extensive view obtained
prospect1587
prospectivec1616
top (also turret) of speculation1653
outlook1667
observatory1695
panopticon1836
c1616 R. C. Certaine Poems in Times' Whistle (1871) 145 Be ther placd A prospective vpon the top o' th' mast, Wherin 'tis fitt that carefull diligence Keep evermore his watchfull residence.
B. adj. † 3. Of a location: affording an extensive prospect or view; elevated, high, lofty. Of a view: extensive, far-reaching. Also figurative and in extended use. Obsolete.
1. Characterized by looking into the future; forward-looking, anticipatory; having foresight or regard for the future; †provident (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > foresight, foreknowledge > provident foresight, prudence > [adjective]
purveyable?a1425
pensivec1425
providenta1450
provide?a1475
purveyanta1500
prospective1581
prospecting1602
provisional1603
providentiala1646
provisionary1647
prospicient1654
provisive1677
forethoughtful1809
far-seeing1837
provisory1843
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > foresight, foreknowledge > prediction, foretelling > [adjective]
prognostical?a1450
prognostica1500
foreguessing1548
prognosticable1562
prophetical1567
prospective1581
prophetica1616
predictive1637
foretellinga1640
predictory1641
forespeaking1650
predictionala1661
prognosticatory1693
prognosticative1813
proleptic1858
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > [adjective]
expectanta1425
prevenient1765
anticipative1797
anticipant1798
contemplative1816
tense1821
prospective1850
at wait1873
1581 A. Munday Courtly Controuersie sig. B.i Hauing by Fortune, found..a place meete for his purpose, not onely applyant to his serious studies, but also prospectiue in eache kinde of pleasure.
a1592 R. Greene Frier Bacon (1594) sig. H By prospectiue skill, I find this day shall fall out ominous.
1658 W. Johnson tr. F. Würtz Surgeons Guid ii. xiv. 100 Be moderate, prospective, and cautious in stitching, and not too hasty.
1690 J. Child Disc. Trade Pref. sig. C8 The French King and King of Sweeden are..circumspect, industrious and prospective too in this Affair.
1784 E. Allen Reason i. §3. 36 Through the intelligence of our own souls we may have something of a prospective idea of the divine perfections.
1814 W. Wordsworth Excursion v. 246 Thus are they born, thus fostered, and thus maintained; And by the care prospective of our wise Forefathers. View more context for this quotation
1850 L. Hunt Autobiogr. II. ix. 7 He was a retrospective rather than a prospective man.
1960 Philos. & Phenomenol. Res. 20 477 Philosophers have long recognized the distinction between retrospective and prospective deliberation.
1994 H. Bloom Western Canon ii. viii. 199 What Johnson sees is that Shakespeare's exquisite imagining reveals our total inability to live in the present moment; either we are prospective, or we recollect.
2. Used or suitable for looking forward or viewing at a distance (also figurative). prospective stone: a stone or crystal in which it was believed that distant or future events could be seen. historical in later use.Earliest in prospective glass n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > optical instruments > instrument for distant vision > [adjective]
prospectivea1584
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > foresight, foreknowledge > prediction, foretelling > crystal-gazing > [noun] > object used in
crystal stonea1387
crystala1400
crystal ball?a1513
prospective glassa1584
prospective stonea1584
show-stone1583
prospective1604
seeing-stone1680
ink-mirror1905
a1584 Tom Thumbe 298 in W. C. Hazlitt Remains Early Pop. Poetry Eng. (1864) II. 190 This cunning doctor tooke A fine prospective glasse, with which he did in secret looke Into his sickened body downe.
1603 H. Crosse Vertues Common-wealth sig. R2v That olde Witch Lamea, who as the Poets faine, had broade prospectiue eyes to pull out and in at pleasure.
1641 Naunton's Fragmenta Regalia sig. F4 It seemes, nature..to pleasure him the more borowed of Argos so to give unto him a prospective sight.
1652 E. Ashmole Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum Prolegomena sig. Bv By the Magicall or Prospective Stone it is possible to discover any Person in what part of the World soever.
a1687 W. Petty Papers (1927) II. 29 We see the small birds have more prospective and farther seeing Eyes then Men.
1903 Mod. Philol. 1 4 He [sc. Roger Bacon] could show the acts of people afar off in his ‘prospective stone’ of crystal, and obliterate both time and space.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > thing seen > place where view obtained > [adjective]
prospective1584
specular1671
speculative1709
gazy1745
speculatory1781
scenic1784
sightly1828
panoramic1855
rear view1911
1584 W. Warner Pan his Syrinx xxxvi. sig. O3 The delectable Springes, sweete Groues, and braue prospectiue Hils.
a1592 R. Greene Alcida (1617) sig. H3 Desirous to heare what the meaning of this monument seated so prospectiue to Neptune, should be.
1632 W. Lithgow Totall Disc. Trav. iv. 139 Being situate on moderate prospectiue heights.
a1667 P. Mundy Trav. (1925) IV. xxxiii. 92 Here is a pretty exchange,..standing on the River..; a pretty prospective place every way.
1684 J. Harington Grecian Story ii. 113 They Walk'd not far till had prospective View, Of open Place.
1796 E. Burke Thoughts Prospect Regicide Peace ii. 89 A large, liberal, and prospective view of the interests of States.
1814 Apostate iii. iii, in New Brit. Theatre III. 328 It..cannot be, that one so great, So lofty and prospective in his virtue, Should fall to such perdition.
a1817 T. Dwight Trav. New-Eng. & N.-Y. (1821) II. 106 Above this plain, after ascending a moderate acclivity, lies another: both of them handsome grounds, and the latter finely prospective.
1884 Times 20 May 14 Several very elegant country seats, beautifully situated, with fine prospective views, are to be sold.
4.
a. Operative in or with regard to the future; applying to the future. Of a law, statute, etc.: applicable only to future cases; not retrospective.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > relative time > the future or time to come > [adjective] > prospective
expectative1630
prospective1788
1788 Considerations submitted to House of Lords on Two East-India Bills 54 All Acts of the Legislature, are retrospective, as well as prospective.
1801 Asiatic Ann. Reg. 1800 Proc. E. India House 112/1 The usages and customs of this country have authorised a certain species of oaths, which he would denominate prospective oaths, as they generally are so.
1828 T. B. Macaulay Hallam's Constit. Hist. in Edinb. Rev. Sept. 101 A prospective law, however severe..would have been mercy itself compared with this odious act.
1868 M. Pattison Suggestions Acad. Organisation v. 188 The fellowship should convey a prospective obligation to the prosecution of the studies intended to be promoted by the endowment.
1884 Law Rep.: Chancery Div. 27 354 The language of the 26th section is entirely prospective and not retrospective.
1958 Harvard Law Rev. 71 470 It is not this prospective probability [of inherited characteristics] which directly interests the judge in paternity cases.., but the reverse—..a law of probability that can declare retrospectively..who..could possibly be the father of the child.
1989 M. Zander Law-making Process (ed. 3) vi. 347 The American device of prospective overruling, whereby the court announces that it will change the relevant rule—but only for future cases.
2001 Univ. Pennsylvania Law Rev. 149 1389 Sometimes the court also used the principle of legal security to engage in prospective overruling of statutes..declaring these laws to be unconstitutional but setting a time in the future when they would be nullified.
b. Grammar. Designating a tense of a verb which is present in form but implies a future action or state; designating such a form.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > tense > [adjective] > other specific tenses
primary1813
principal1818
prospective1893
past future1904
expanded1931
1893 Trans. Amer. Philol. Assoc. 24 168 I have endeavored to prove..that the subjunctive with ἄν or κε in the relative final clause..expressed originally simply something reckoned upon (‘future’ or ‘prospective’ subjunctive).
1931 O. Jespersen in S.P.E. Tract (Soc. for Pure Eng.) No. XXXVI. 528 This leads to the use of is going to with an infinitive as what may be called a prospective present, and was going to as a prospective past.
1963 L. R. Palmer Interpr. Mycenaean Greek Texts 190 The facts thus suggest that the addition of the particle -qe to the verb gives it ‘prospective’ force.
1991 Canad. Jrnl. Linguistics 36 281 It is usually claimed that the Présent..and the so-called ‘prospective’ form..do not entail the modal projection into non-certainty that is induced by will in English or by the so-called future ‘tense’ in French.
c. Medicine. Designating or relating to research in which a sufficient number of subjects are followed over a sufficient period of time to produce reliable data about a given outcome (such as mortality rate, incidence of disease, response to a drug, etc.). Contrasted with retrospective.
ΚΠ
1954 R. Doll & A. B. Hill in Brit. Med. Jrnl. 26 June 1451/1 Further retrospective studies of that same kind would seem to us unlikely to advance our knowledge materially... If, too, there were any undetected flaw in the evidence that such studies have produced, it would be exposed only by some entirely new approach. That approach we considered should be ‘prospective’.
1977 Lancet 2 July 36/2 We published data from a prospective study of 100 patients, 50 of whom were non-smokers and 50 of whom smoked 10 or more cigarettes throughout pregnancy.
1990 Internat. Jrnl. Epidemiol. 19 797/1 Virtually all prospective studies involve the attrition of some subjects, whether due to deaths and other competing risks, refusals, emigration, or other reasons.
5. Expected or expecting to be (the object or thing specified) in the future; that is in prospect; proposed, likely, potential. (Now the usual sense.)
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > [adjective] > expected
futurec1374
in a possibility1523
forestalled1543
looked-for1548
anticipatec1550
expected1558
long-looked-for1562
looked1565
in expectation1570
expectable1619
expecting1621
in perspective1633
unsurprising1671
in prospect1694
perspective1710
in prospective1746–7
prospective1809
anticipated1814
presumable1825
anticipatable1872
ex ante1937
1809 in Communications to Board Agric. (1811) VII. xiii. 97 Vast as is the prospective saving in the single article of seed corn.
1853 C. Brontë Villette I. xii. 214 All the pupils above fourteen knew of some prospective bridegroom.
1863 H. Fawcett Man. Polit. Econ. ii. iii. 150 Not only a large prospective but even a large immediate profit would be returned.
1884 Truth 13 Mar. 376/2 A silly lordling and prospective peer.
1906 A. Quiller-Couch From Cornish Window 200 Our Parliamentary Candidate—or Prospective Candidate, as we cautiously call him—has been visiting us.
1949 Consumer Reports Feb. 68/2 Many prospective purchasers want an easy-to-operate device.
1996 Independent 28 Oct. i. 3/7 The singles nights had given the unattached a chance to put some romance into their shopping by meeting prospective partners.
2002 A. Pearson I don't know how she does It (2003) xvi. 153 Our prospective client's offices are decorated in a style I immediately identify as Corporate Cosy.
6. In prospect to a specified degree; (of a region) likely to have good prospects as regards extraction of minerals, etc.
ΚΠ
1883 Daily Gaz. (Colorado Springs) 21 Nov. Since..the very prospective consolidation of the Boston and Colorado and Miners' Smelting companies, there has been a little distrust among the mining men of this county.
1910 Manitoba Morning Free Press 10 Apr. 20/2 (advt.) It also has a 640 acre track of undeveloped, though highly prospective oil land above Coalinga, the biggest oil field in the world.
1949 News (Frederick, Maryland) 21 Dec. 11/2 Cover and P. Clarke, led the Thurmont offensive, which showed almost every man on the team as a highly prospective scorer.
1966 W. Gibson Tough, Sweet & Stuffy vi. 82 He must be an admirer or user, or highly prospective admirer or user, of the writer's product.
1982 Times 12 Aug. 11/4 The chief asset in the sale is Dome's interest in four licensed and highly prospective areas in Indonesia.
Derivatives
ΚΠ
?1828 W. Berry Encycl. Heraldica I. Gloss. Perspective, or Prospective, is used, in blazon, to express divisional lines forming a kind of pavement with diminishing squares in perspective, as paly barry, or barry bendy, in perspective, or prospective wise.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.adj.c1395- presettlement
- presettlements
- presexual
- preshadow
- preshakespearean
- preshow
- preshowed
- preshowing
- preshown
- preshows
- preshrank
- preshrink
- preshrinkage
- preshrinking
- preshrinks
- preshrunk
- preshrunken
- preside
- preside at the etc
- preside at the harpsichord
- preside at the organ
- preside at the piano
- presided
- presidence
- presidencies