▪ I. † prosper, a. Obs. rare.
[ME. prospere, a. F. prospère (14th c. in Littré) or ad. L. prosper, prosper-us favourable, fortunate, prosperous: of uncertain origin. The form prospre is a. OF. prospre (12th c. in Littré).]
Prosperous, successful.
| c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. i. pr. iv. 8 (Camb. MS.) Thilke man..þat maade alwey assawtes ayeins the prospere [v.r. prospre] fortunes of poore feeble fookkes. 1513 Douglas æneis viii. v. 59 We pray the vissie, that thou may cum heyr Wyth prosper presens and full happy fute. Ibid. xi. xiv. 88 The pepill Tuscane..Seand the exempill and prosper chans that tyd Of thar stowt duke. |
▪ II. prosper, v.
(ˈprɒspə(r))
[a. F. prospére-r (14th c. in Littré), ad. L. prospeˈrā-re to cause (a thing) to succeed, to render fortunate, also absol., in late L. also to propitiate (God), in pass. to prosper, f. prosper adj.: see prec.]
1. a. intr. Of a person, community, etc.: To be prosperous, fortunate, or successful; to flourish, thrive, succeed, do well.
| c 1460 Fortescue Abs. & Lim. Mon. xvi. (heading), How the Romaynes prospered whiles thai hade a grete counsell. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 16 b, They wente hole togyder, and prospered ryght well in theyr iourney. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. iii. xxxiii. 202 Why wicked men have often prospered in this world. 1786 Scotch Paraphr. vii. iii Who, that tries th' unequal strife Shall prosper in the end? 1864 Tennyson En. Ard. 48 Enoch..so prosper'd that at last A luckier or a bolder fisherman..did not breathe. 1884 Ruskin Pleas. Eng. 75 No false knight or lying priest ever prospered, I believe, in any age. |
b. intr. Of things: To flourish; to turn out well.
| c 1529 in Archæologia (1882) XLVII. 51 We will the said religion to prospere according unto the foundacion of the house. 1535 Coverdale Ps. i. 3 What soeuer he doth, it shal prospere. a 1720 Sewel Hist. Quakers (1795) II. vii. 11 If such doings as this ever prosper. 1870 Morris Earthly Par. (1890) 358 Well did all things prosper in his hand. |
c. intr. Of plants: To thrive, to flourish.
| 1553 Eden Treat. Newe Ind. (Arb.) 41 There were also vynes..planted in this Ilande, where they prosper so wel, that [etc.]. 1682 Sir T. Browne Chr. Mor. iii. §4 Where such Plants grow and prosper. 1731 P. Miller Gardeners' Dict. s.v. Phaseolus. In the West-Indies it [sc. the pigeon-pea]..will thrive on barren land which has been worn out, where scarcely any thing else will prosper. 1946 D. C. Peattie Road of Naturalist iii. 34 Nature out of her vast variety has provided forms that prosper even there [sc. in Death Valley]. |
2. trans. To cause to flourish; to promote the prosperity or success of; to be propitious to.
| 1530 Palsgr. 668/1, I beseche Jhesu prospere you in all your busynesses. 1593 Nashe Christ's T. 61 b, God..cherrisht and prosperd them with all the blessings hee could. 1642 Declar. Lords & Com., Ordinance 13 Apr. 3 For prospering the common cause. 1784 Cowper Task vi. 1024 Whose frown can disappoint the proudest strain, Whose approbation prosper—even mine. 1855 Kingsley Westw. Ho! xxiii, If Heaven prospered them, they might seize a Spanish ship. |
Hence ˈprospering vbl. n. and ppl. a.
| c 1557 Abp. Parker Ps. xx, This prayth for kinges Good prosperinges, Theyr realmes to have defence. 1604 Earl Stirling Parænesis to Pr. Henry lxxvii, Every State by long experience findes, That greatest blessings prosp'ring Peace imparts. 1854 E. G. Holland Mem. J. Badger xviii. 349 The pastor of a prospering church. |