Word of the day · 30 May 2026
projection
/prəˈdʒɛkʃən/
noun
In psychology, attributing your own feelings or motives to someone else; also a forecast or an image cast onto a surface.
In a sentence
- Calling her controlling looked like projection of his own need to manage every detail.
- The budget projection assumed steady sales through spring.
- A slide projection lit the map on the wall.
In an image
Origin
From Latin proicere (to throw forward); the psychological sense grew from psychoanalytic writing in the early 1900s.
History
Engineers and film still use projection for casting light or making forecasts. Therapy talk borrowed the same “throwing outward” image: anger you will not own appears as the other person’s hostility. Everyday English mixes both senses, which is why people search the word after an argument. Context usually tells you whether someone means a chart, a beam of light or a defense.
Nearby words
attribution · displacement · forecast
Seeing your own fear or desire as if it belonged to another person.