envisage

/ɛnˈvɪzɪdʒ/

/ɛnˈvɪzɪdʒ/

Other forms: envisaged; envisages; envisaging

Martin Luther King Jr. envisaged a time when black and white Americans would no longer be segregated by race. To envisage is to imagine something that does not yet exist.

The words envisage and envision share the same Latin root meaning to see. Both words are very similar in meaning but do have slight shades of difference. If you envision something happening, you can see it happening in your mind. I'm sure you can envision yourself graduating from high school! If you envisage something, you can imagine it, but not necessarily see it. You can envisage world peace, but it may be harder to envision it.

Definitions of envisage

1. verb

   form a mental image of something that is not present or that is not the case
   synonyms: conceive of, ideate, imagine

   types:

   envision, fancy, figure, image, picture, project, see, visualise, visualize

   imagine; conceive of; see in one's mind

   visualise, visualize

   form a mental picture of something that is invisible or abstract

   envision, foresee

   picture to oneself; imagine possible

   fantasise, fantasize

   portray in the mind

   prefigure

   imagine or consider beforehand

   think

   imagine or visualize

   fantasise, fantasize, fantasy, phantasy

   indulge in fantasies

   daydream, dream, stargaze, woolgather

   have a daydream; indulge in a fantasy

   type of:

   create by mental act, create mentally

   create mentally and abstractly rather than with one's hands