projection

The definition of a projection is something that is shown on a screen at a distance, or something that sticks out, or a future estimate or prediction made from current information, or when you assume that someone has the same emotions or feelings that you do.

(noun)

  1. An example of a projection is a movie.
  2. An example of a projection is a bar coming out of a wall.
  3. An example of a projection is a bank guessing what future interest rates will be.
  4. An example of projection is seeing a sad person while you're sad and assuming they are sad for the same reasons.

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See projection in Webster's New World College Dictionary

noun

  1. a projecting or being projected
  2. something that projects, or juts out
  3. something that is projected; specif., in map making, the representation on a plane of the earth's surface (or the celestial sphere) or of a part thereof
  4. a prediction or advance estimate based on known data or observations; extrapolation
  5. Psychiatry the unconscious act or process of ascribing to others one's own ideas, impulses, or emotions, esp. when they are considered undesirable or cause anxiety
  6. Photog. the process of projecting an image, as from a transparent slide, upon a screen, etc.

Origin: MFr < L projectio

Related Forms:

See projection in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun
  1. The act of projecting or the condition of being projected.
  2. A thing or part that extends outward beyond a prevailing line or surface: spiky projections on top of a fence; a projection of land along the coast.
  3. A plan for an anticipated course of action: “facilities [that] are vital to the projection of U.S. force . . . in the Pacific” (Alan D. Romberg).
  4. A prediction or an estimate of something in the future, based on present data or trends.
  5. a. The process of projecting an image onto a screen or other surface for viewing.
    b. An image so projected.
  6. Mathematics The image of a geometric figure reproduced on a line, plane, or surface.
  7. 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.
  8. Psychology
    a. The attribution of one's own attitudes, feelings, or suppositions to others: “Even trained anthropologists have been guilty of unconscious projection—of clothing the subjects of their research in theories brought with them into the field” (Alex Shoumatoff).
    b. The attribution of one's own attitudes, feelings, or desires to someone or something as a naive or unconscious defense against anxiety or guilt.

Related Forms:

  • pro·jecˈtion·al adjective

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