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PROSPERITY
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I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
The condition of prospering; having good fortune
Synonyms:
prosperity; successfulness
Classified under:
Nouns denoting stable states of affairs
Hypernyms ("prosperity" is a kind of...):
good fortune; good luck; luckiness (an auspicious state resulting from favorable outcomes)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "prosperity"):
eudaemonia; eudaimonia; upbeat; welfare; well-being; wellbeing (a contented state of being happy and healthy and prosperous)
strength (the condition of financial success)
success (a state of prosperity or fame)
Derivation:
prosperous (in fortunate circumstances financially; moderately rich)
Sense 2
Meaning:
An economic state of growth with rising profits and full employment
Classified under:
Nouns denoting stable states of affairs
Hypernyms ("prosperity" is a kind of...):
economic condition (the condition of the economy)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "prosperity"):
boom (a state of economic prosperity)
Derivation:
prosperous (very lively and profitable)
Context examples:
Here passed the round-faced burgher, swollen with prosperity, his sweeping dark-clothed gaberdine, flat velvet cap, broad leather belt and dangling pouch all speaking of comfort and of wealth.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
She felt it so; and though, in looking forward, neither rational happiness nor worldly prosperity could be justly expected for her sister, in looking back to what they had feared, only two hours ago, she felt all the advantages of what they had gained.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
That the question therefore was not, whether a man would choose to be always in the prime of youth, attended with prosperity and health; but how he would pass a perpetual life under all the usual disadvantages which old age brings along with it.
(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)
She was persuaded that under every disadvantage of disapprobation at home, and every anxiety attending his profession, all their probable fears, delays, and disappointments, she should yet have been a happier woman in maintaining the engagement, than she had been in the sacrifice of it; and this, she fully believed, had the usual share, had even more than the usual share of all such solicitudes and suspense been theirs, without reference to the actual results of their case, which, as it happened, would have bestowed earlier prosperity than could be reasonably calculated on.
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
Every happiness and prosperity!
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
Yet there was much around to interest us, for we were passing through as singular a countryside as any in England, where a few scattered cottages represented the population of to-day, while on every hand enormous square-towered churches bristled up from the flat green landscape and told of the glory and prosperity of old East Anglia.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
You are sick of prosperity and indulgence.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
What a glorious creature must he have been in the days of his prosperity, when he is thus noble and godlike in ruin!
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
The fortunate sale of several storiettes, some humorous verse, and a few jokes gave Martin a temporary splurge of prosperity.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
Nor was material prosperity alone hers, for, because of her wonderful son and the position he had given her, she came to be looked upon as the first woman in all the village; and the women were given to visiting her, to asking her advice, and to quoting her wisdom when arguments arose among themselves or with the men.
(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)
