Other forms: prospectors
A prospector is somebody searching land for gold or minerals. An old prospector, prospectors arrived, a lone prospector.
The gold rushes were made of them, and the reliable money was made selling them tools and food rather than by finding anything. Modern prospecting is done by survey and geochemistry rather than by pan. Note prospect, from the Latin for looking forward — a prospector is looking at what may lie ahead.
1nounprospectorSomebody searching land for gold or minerals.
“The old prospector spent his life panning the river for gold.”
prospector is a searcher.
Proto-Indo-European
*speḱ-
Latin
prōspectus — view, sight, prospect; panorama
Middle English
prospecte
English
prospect
English, today
prospector
Built from
From prospect + -or. prospect comes from Middle English prospecte, from Latin prōspectus (“view, sight, prospect; panorama”), from prōspiciō (“to look forward”) + -tus, from pro (“before, forward”) + speciō, spiciō (“to look, to see”). by surface analysis, pro- + -spect. a doublet of prospectus and prospekt. The verb is from the noun.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA