project

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
project

▶noun /ˈprɒdʒɛkt/ 

• 1 an enterprise carefully planned to achieve a particular aim.

  ■ a proposed or planned undertaking.

• 2 a piece of research work by a school or college student.

• 3 (also housing project) N. Amer. a government-subsidized estate or block of homes.

▶verb /prəˈdʒɛkt/ 

• 1 estimate or forecast on the basis of present trends.

  ■ (often as adj. projected) plan.

• 2 protrude.

• 3 throw or cause to move forward or outward.

  ■ cause (light, shadow, or an image) to fall on a surface.

  ■ cause (a sound) to be heard at a distance.

  ■ imagine as having moved to a different place or time.

• 4 present or promote.

  ■ display (an emotion or quality) in one's behaviour.

• 5 (project something on to) attribute an emotion to (another person), especially unconsciously.

• 6 Geometry draw straight lines through (a given figure) to produce a corresponding figure on a surface or line.

• 7 represent (the earth's surface, the heavens, etc.) on a plane surface.

– origin ME (in the sense ‘preliminary design, tabulated statement’): from L. projectum ‘something prominent’, neut. past part. of proicere ‘throw forth’, from pro- ‘forth’ + jacere ‘to throw’.