an organized piece of work with a clear goal that needs planning and effort, often done by a person or a group within a set time
The team finished the science project two days early.
Our class will start a gardening project next week.
✦ From Latin prōiectum, past participle of prōicere “to throw forward”, later used for a plan or design.
to make light, pictures, or words appear on a surface such as a wall or screen
They projected the movie onto a white sheet in the backyard.
The teacher projects the lesson slides onto the smart board.
✦ From Latin prōicere “throw forward”, later used for casting light forward.
(usually plural: the projects) a group of government-owned apartment buildings where low-income families live
Maria grew up in the projects on the south side of the city.
The city plans to renovate the oldest project to make it safer.
✦ Sense developed in 20th-century United States from “housing project,” meaning a planned public-housing development.
to estimate or calculate what something will be in the future based on information you have now
Economists project that inflation will fall next year.
Global sales are projected to grow by 15 percent.
✦ Extended from the sense of throwing forward to the idea of throwing numbers or ideas forward into the future.
to stick out beyond the surface or line of something else
A wooden balcony projects over the lake.
Sharp rocks projected from the cliff face.
✦ From Latin prōiectus, past participle of prōicere “to throw forward”, keeping the sense of something thrown out beyond a surface.
