Meaning & use
projections
Last updated
“projections” is a form of “projection”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
nounplural
Estimates of what will happen in the future, worked out from the figures and trends that are known now.
Grammar: Plural form of projection; often followed by for or of: projections for next year.
Patterns
- projections for something
- projections of something
- projections show something
The company's sales projections for next year were far too hopeful.
According to official projections, the city's population will double by 2050.
Our projections suggest we will run out of funds in March.
nounplural
Parts or shapes that stick out from a surface or edge.
Grammar: Plural of a countable noun; a rocky projection is one, two projections are many.
Patterns
- projections on something
Climbers gripped the small projections on the cliff face.
The wall had decorative projections along its upper edge.
nounplural
Images or films cast on to a screen or surface by a light source or device.
Grammar: Plural of projection; the film or slide itself is the projection.
Patterns
- projections on something
Digital projections filled the museum's dark hall with moving stars.
The artist used projections on the building to tell the town's history.
nounpluraltechnical
Methods of showing the curved surface of the Earth on a flat map.
Grammar: Usually named by type: Mercator projections.
Different map projections change how large Greenland appears.
Students compared several projections to see how each one distorts the poles.
Word forms
| singular | projection |
|---|
Common combinations
- sales projections
- The sales projections were revised after a weak first quarter.
- revise projections
- Analysts had to revise their projections once the new data arrived.
- population projections
- Population projections help planners decide where to build schools.
- projections show
- Government projections show a small budget surplus by 2030.
- map projections
- Map projections cannot show a round planet without some distortion.
Synonyms and how they differ
- forecasts
- Forecasts is the everyday word, especially for weather and economics, while projections stress a calculation from existing data.
- predictions
- Predictions can be hunches, but projections imply figures and a method.
- estimates
- Estimates may describe the present or the past, whereas projections always look ahead.
Word family
- project verb
- to estimate or to throw an image forward
- projection noun
- singular form
- projector noun
- a device that casts images
- projected adjective
- expected in the future
Commonly confused: projections or prediction?
projections vs prediction
A prediction is any claim about the future; a projection is built from data and trends.
Practice
The city's population ______ suggest it will reach two million by 2040.
Choose one answer.
Projections are data-based estimates of the future. Prospects can look similar but do not take 'suggest' as a calculation, and projectors are machines.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “projections”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.