Emily Dickinson Lexicon

PROSPECT, n. [L. prospectus, prospicio, to look forward; pro and specio, to see.]

1. View of things within the reach of the eye. Eden and all the coast in prospect lay. – Milton.
2. View of things to come; intellectual sight; expectation. The good man enjoys the prospect of future felicity.
3. That which is presented to the eye; the place and the objects seen. There is a noble prospect from the dome of the state home in Boston, a prospect diversified with land and water, and every thing that can please the eye.
4. Object of view. Man to himself / Is a large prospect. – Denham.
5. View delineated or painted; picturesque representation of a landscape. – Reynolds.
6. Place which affords an extended view. – Milton.
7. Position of the front of a building; as, a prospect toward the south or north. Ezek. xl.
8. Expectation, or ground of expectation. There is a prospect of a good harvest. A man has a prospect of preferment; or he has little prospect of success. – Washington.
9. A looking forward; a regard to something future. Is he a prudent man as to his temporal estate, who lays designs only for a day, without any prospect to or provision for the remaining part of life? [Little used.] – Tillotson.