envisage

[en-viz-ij]

See more synonyms for envisage on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object), en·vis·aged, en·vis·ag·ing.

to contemplate; visualize: He envisages an era of great scientific discoveries.
Archaic. to look in the face of; face.

Origin of envisage

From the French word envisager, dating back to 1810–20. See en-¹, visage

Related formsen·vis·age·ment, noun

Synonyms for envisage

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1. picture, imagine, conceive, envision.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for envisage

picture, visualize, consider, confront, image, regard

Examples from the Web for envisage

Contemporary Examples of envisage

All three envisage Assad staying in power—at least in the short term.
The Obama Administration Has Assad Amnesia
Jamie Dettmer
December 4, 2014
In a darkened movie theater, we allow filmmakers to deliver into our minds a false world to envisage.
The Science of Weepies: Why We Love Crying at the Movies
Elizabeth Picciuto
June 4, 2014
He triumphed because he had the moral imagination to envisage a relationship beyond confrontation and war.
What Ronald Reagan Can Teach Barack Obama About Dealing With Iran
Peter Beinart
September 24, 2013
Does he envisage the possibility of a political stalemate in Iraq?
Paul Bremer's Victory Lap
Tunku Varadarajan
March 29, 2010

Historical Examples of envisage

And he was horror enough for any man in my circumstances to envisage.
The Strolling Saint
Raphael Sabatini
Vainly I rack my brains to envisage the manner of their passing.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 158, April 28, 1920
Various
Polter continued standing, I could envisage his sardonic grin.
Beyond the Vanishing Point
Raymond King Cummings
He did not at first envisage his own plight in definite and comprehensible terms.
The War in the Air
Herbert George Wells
Desperately I tried to envisage a situation so utterly beyond reason.
The Tower of Oblivion
Oliver Onions

British Dictionary definitions for envisage

envisage

verb (tr)

to form a mental image of; visualize; contemplate
to conceive of as a possibility in the future; foresee
archaic to look in the face of; confront

Derived Formsenvisagement, noun

Word Origin for envisage

C19: from French envisager, from en- 1 + visage face, visage

usage

It was formerly considered incorrect to use a clause after envisage as in it is envisaged that the new centre will cost £40 million, but this use is now acceptable

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for envisage

1778, from French envisager "look in the face of," from en- "cause to" (see en- (1)) + visage "face" (see visage). Related: Envisaged; envisaging.