prosper

P3R1O1S1P3E1R1
UK/ˈpɹɒspə(ɹ)/Atlantic Canada, US/ˈpɹɑspɚ/Canada, dialectal/ˈpɹɒspɚ/Australia/ˈpɹɔspə(ɹ)/

verb

To be successful; to succeed; to be fortunate or prosperous; to thrive; to make gain.

Similar
do welldo well for oneselfgaingrowthriveflourishsucceedfly high
Opposite
declinefailfallfall on hard timesgo awry
OriginOld French prosperer ← Latin prosperō ← Proto-Italic *prosparos →
Less commonScrabble 11
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

prosper1

verbprosper (third-person singular simple present prospers, present participle prospering, simple past and past participle prospered)

present singular third person prospers · participle present prospering · participle past prospered · past prospered · alternative prospre

  1. intransitiveTo be successful; to succeed; to be fortunate or prosperous; to thrive; to make gain.
    1 more example

    Yet his passion for her had grown fiercer than ever, and he swore to himself that he would win her back from her phantasies. She, one may believe, was ready enough to listen. As she walked with him by the Sker water his words were like musick to her ears, and Alison within doors laughed to herself and saw her devices prosper.

    1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide
  2. intransitiveTo grow; to increase.

    And his master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand.

    1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 39:3
  3. obsoletetransitiveTo favor; to render successful.

    Prosper thou our handiwork.

    1549 March 7, Thomas Cranmer [et al.], compilers, The Booke of the Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacramentes, […], London: […] Edowardi Whitchurche […], →OCLC
    3 more examples

    Greensleeues now farewel adue God I pray to prosper thee: For I am stil thy louer true, come once againe and loue me.

    1878 [1584], Clement Robinson, “A new Courtly Sonet, of the Lady Greensleeues” (stanza 18), in Edward Arber, editor, A Handful of Pleasant Delights

    The Gods defenders of the innocent, Will neuer proſper your intended driftes, That thus oppreſſe poore friendles paſſengers.

    c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act I, scene ii

    All things concur to prosper our design.

    1700, [John] Dryden, “Iphis and Ianthe”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC

Prosper2

proper noun
  1. A male given name from French.

Synonyms & antonyms

Similar
do welldo well for oneselfgaingrowthriveflourishsucceed
Opposite
declinefailfallfall on hard timesgo awrygo downhillgo pear-shapedgo to potgo to shitgo to the dogsgo down the toiletgo wrong

verbmake steady progress; be at the high point in one's career or reach a high point in historical significance or importance

Similar
thrivefly highflourish
Broader
change stateturn
Also see
blossomboomflourishfly highgrow upthrive

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*speh₁-“to succeed”
  2. Proto-Italic*prosparos
  3. Latinprosperō“to render happy”
  4. Old Frenchprosperer
  5. Englishprosper

From Old French prosperer, from Latin prosperō (“to render happy”), from prosperus (“prosperous”), from Proto-Italic *prosparos, from Proto-Indo-European *speh₁- (“to succeed”), whence also Latin spēs (“hope, expectation”).

More words from Old French, Latin, Proto-Italic

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic ازدهر
  • ازدهرto be successful
Bulgarian преуспя́вам, проспери́рам
  • преуспя́вам (preuspjávam)to be successful
  • проспери́рам (prosperíram)to be successful
  • благоденствам (blagodenstvam)to be successful
Catalan prosperar
  • prosperarto be successful
Chinese Mandarin 亨祚, 興旺 /兴旺
  • 亨祚 (hēngzuò)to be successful
  • 興旺 /兴旺 (xīngwàng)to be successful
  • 繁榮 /繁荣 (fánróng)to be successful
  • 昌盛 (chāngshèng)to be successful
Czech prosperovat
  • prosperovatto be successful
Dutch welvaren
  • welvarento be successful
Esperanto prosperi
  • prosperito be successful
Finnish voida hyvin, to grow
  • voida hyvinto be successful
  • to growto be successful
  • vaurastuato be successful
  • menestyäto be successful
French prospérer
  • prospérerto be successful
German gedeihen, prosperieren
  • gedeihento be successful
  • prosperierento be successful
  • florierento be successful
Greek ευημερώ
  • ευημερώ (evimeró)to be successful
Hindi संपन्न, समृद्ध
  • संपन्न (sampann)to be successful
  • समृद्ध (samŕddh)to be successful
Hungarian prosperál, virágzik
  • prosperálto be successful
  • virágzikto be successful
Italian prosperare
  • prosperareto be successful
Japanese 栄える, 賑わう
  • 栄える (sakaeru)to be successful
  • 賑わう (nigiwau)to be successful
Latin vigeō
  • vigeōto be successful
Polish prosperować, kwitnąć
  • prosperowaćto be successful
  • kwitnąćto be successful
Portuguese prosperar
  • prosperarto be successful
Russian процвета́ть, преуспева́ть
  • процвета́ть (procvetátʹ)to be successful
  • преуспева́ть (preuspevátʹ)to be successful
  • благоде́нствовать (blagodénstvovatʹ)to be successful
Spanish prosperar
  • prosperarto be successful
Thai เจริญ, รุ่งเรือง
  • เจริญ (jà-rəən)to be successful
  • รุ่งเรือง (rûng-rʉʉang)to be successful
Turkish başarmak
  • başarmakto be successful
Ukrainian процвіта́ти
  • процвіта́ти (procvitáty)to be successful

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

propers
Cite this entry
APA

prosper. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prosper

MLA

“prosper.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prosper. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “prosper,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prosper.

Source: prosper on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.