Prospectively

Part of speech: adverb

Definitions

1. Considering or relating to future events or possibilities rather than the present or past
2. Looking forward in time or anticipating outcomes that have not yet occurred
3. Acting with an emphasis on what may happen later or in the time ahead

Etymology: Prospectively is simply the adverb of "prospective," with "-ly" attached at the end. The adjective "prospective" comes from Latin "prospectivus," built from "prospectus," the past participle of "prospicere," meaning "to look forward," from "pro-" (forward) and "specere" (to look). That Latin root, meaning to look at or see, is why the word carries the sense of looking ahead. The "-ly" ending is one of the oldest and most productive English suffixes. It descends from Old English "-līċe," which was attached to adjectives to form adverbs, and it has been stretched across the language ever since. Its ancestry runs back through Germanic forms to an Indo-European root meaning "body" or "form," which is why "-ly" once carried the idea of "in the manner or shape of" something. The result is a word that describes acting with the future in view: a plan made prospectively is one drawn up with later events in mind, rather than one judged after the fact.

Synonyms: potentially, likely