projection

American  

[pruh-jek-shuhn] / prəˈdʒɛk ʃən /

noun

• projections
  plural

1. a projecting or protruding part.

   Synonyms:

   jut, protrusion, overhang

2. the state or fact of jutting out or protruding.

3. a causing to jut or protrude.

4. the act, process, or result of projecting.

5. Also called map projection. Cartography. a systematic construction of lines drawn on a plane surface representative of and corresponding to the meridians and parallels of the curved surface of the earth or celestial sphere.

6. Photography.

   1. the act of reproducing on a surface, by optical means, a remote image on a film, slide, etc.

   2. an image so reproduced.

7. the act of visualizing and regarding an idea or the like as an objective reality.

8. something that is so visualized and regarded.

9. calculation of some future thing.

   They fell short of their projection for the rate of growth.

   Synonyms:

   extrapolation, forecast, prediction

10. the act of communicating distinctly and forcefully to an audience.

11. Psychology.

    1. the tendency to ascribe to another person feelings, thoughts, or attitudes present in oneself, or to regard external reality as embodying such feelings, thoughts, etc., in some way.

    2. Psychoanalysis. such an ascription relieving the ego of a sense of guilt or other intolerable feeling.

12. the act of planning or scheming.

13. Alchemy. the casting of the powder of philosophers' stone upon metal in fusion, to transmute it into gold or silver.

---

projection British  

/ prəˈdʒɛkʃən /

noun

1. the act of projecting or the state of being projected

2. an object or part that juts out

3. See map projection

4. the representation of a line, figure, or solid on a given plane as it would be seen from a particular direction or in accordance with an accepted set of rules

5. a scheme or plan

6. a prediction based on known evidence and observations

7. 1. the process of showing film on a screen

   2. the image or images shown

8. psychol

   1. the belief, esp in children, that others share one's subjective mental life

   2. the process of projecting one's own hidden desires and impulses See also defence mechanism

9. the mixing by alchemists of powdered philosopher's stone with molten base metals in order to transmute them into gold

---

projection Scientific  

/ prə-jĕk′shən /

1. The image of a geometric figure reproduced on a line, plane, or surface.

2. A system of intersecting lines, such as the grid of a map, on which part or all of the globe or another spherical surface is represented as a plane surface.

3. See more at azimuthal projection conic projection cylindrical projection

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonprojection
  noun
• self-projection
  noun
• projectional
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• projections
  plural

---

Etymology

Origin of projection

First recorded in 1470–80; from Latin prōjectiōn- (stem of prōjectiō ) “a throwing forward”; see project, -ion

---

Explanation

When you push something away from a central structure, that's called projection. If you predict that the Jets will win tomorrow's game, that's a projection, too — you're pushing your mind away from the present and into the future. The Jets and projection actually have a common linguistic ancestor. Both the ject in projection and the word jet come from the Latin root jactus, which means "throw." A jet plane throws itself — or projects itself — away from a central structure (the Earth) and into the air.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

projection projections

For the year, Harley-Davidson boosted its forecast for global motorcycle retail sales to a range between 135,500 and 139,000 units from a prior projection of 133,500 to 138,500 units.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026

The company’s fourth-quarter revenue projection came in short of expectations.

From Barron's ● Oct. 29, 2026

Its gross margin projection of about 39% is also above consensus of 38.1%, analysts say.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026

By 2040, there could be some 1.2 million fewer workers in the workforce, and as many as 5.6 million fewer jobs, according to a new projection from Indeed’s in-house think tank.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 29, 2026

We sat on the floor of the Domestic Science room, on our little gray mats, and waited while Aunt Helena and Aunt Lydia struggled with the projection equipment.

From "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood

The network aired a lengthy segment on the Thursday’s edition of “Today” to explain how its decision desk operates and comes up with its election night projections.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 31, 2026

The latest projections have the rain peaking between 9 p.m.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2026

In fact, the projections suggest we’ll likely die with several million dollars more than we had when we retired.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 29, 2026

The Forecasts: Traders will scrutinize the BOJ’s quarterly outlook report for updated growth and price projections to gauge if policymakers see a case for another hike by year-end.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026

Critics of Jefferson’s visionary projections, like Adams, were then accused of rejecting the ideals themselves, when in fact they were merely exposing their illusory character.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

• calculation
• estimate
• estimation
• forecast

---