envisage
verb
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Envisage this: a word is borrowed from French in the mid-17th century and sticks around to be used in the 21st. It’s not hard to picture; envisage is not alone in this accomplishment. Used today to mean “to have a mental picture of something, especially in advance of realization” and “to view or regard something in a certain way,” envisage for a time could also mean “to confront or face someone.” That use, which is now archaic, nods to the word’s origin: we borrowed envisage from French, but the visage part is from Anglo-French vis, meaning “face.” (It reaches back ultimately to Greek idein, “to see.”) Visage is of course also an English word. It entered English much earlier, in the 14th century, and is typically used today in literary contexts to refer to a person’s face. Envisage isn’t necessarily restricted to literary contexts, but it does have a formal tone. Its near twin envision (“to picture to oneself”), which has been with us since the 19th century, is interchangeable with envisage in many contexts and is somewhat less formal.
Synonyms
Examples of envisage in a Sentence
Alena Botros, Fortune Europe, 25 Oct. 2024
You May Also Like The residential community has been envisaged with family amentieis like a kids club, indoor pool and play area.
—Sofia Celeste, WWD, 28 Oct. 2024
The paper envisages plants being grown in layered structures topped with rooftop solar panels.
—Tom Hawking, Popular Science, 23 Oct. 2024
More of a passion project than a mode of transportation, its boats were envisaged in 1999 by renowned Swedish restaurateur and hospitality entrepreneur Björn Janson.
—Sofia Celeste, WWD, 3 Oct. 2024
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Dictionary Entries Near envisage
Cite this Entry
“Envisage.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/envisage. Accessed 1 Dec. 2024.
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envisage
verb
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