Prognoses

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /pɹɒɡˈnəʊsiːz/

Definitions

1. The process of making informed predictions regarding future occurrences based on data and insights
2. Multiple forecasts concerning potential developments or results in diverse areas of study
3. Estimates or judgments about what will happen in the future, often based on analysis of current information

Etymology: "Prognoses" is the plural of "prognosis," so its story is really the story of the singular form. The Greek root "gignōskein" meant "to know," and the prefix "pro-" added the sense "before," giving "prognōsis" the literal meaning of "foreknowledge." Greek physicians used it for judging the likely course of a disease from its signs, a clinical sense that had nothing to do with fortune-telling. English took the word from Late Latin "prognōsēs," the Latinised form of the Greek term, and the plural "prognoses" keeps the Greek-style ending "-es" that the Latin version preserved. Because the word arrived as a learned borrowing rather than through everyday speech, it stayed a specialist term for much of its history.

Synonyms: forecasts, predictions, projections, outlook, estimations

Antonyms: retrospectives, reviews, analyses, assessments, evaluations