見込み
Meaning in Englishprospects, expectation, hope
Animated kanji stroke order
Word context
What it means
見込み refers to the expected outcome or probability that something will occur, based on current indicators, data, or trends; it denotes a forecast or the level of likelihood of a future event, rather than certainty.
Main meanings
- Prospect or forecast within plans and projections, describing the expected result of an action or project.
- Likelihood or probability that something will occur, described as high, medium, or low based on evidence.
- A term used in business contexts to refer to potential customers in early stages (見込み客).
How to use it
Used primarily in formal or semi-formal contexts such as business reports, project planning, and market analysis to express an estimated outcome or probability; common collocations include measures of likelihood and phrases that indicate forecasted results, and it appears in compounds like 見込み客 and verbs like 見込む.
Variants and close terms
- 予想 (yosou) — forecast
- 可能性 (kanosei) — possibility, likelihood
- 見通し (mitooshi) — outlook, prospect
Composition
- 見 – see, look; used here to denote looking ahead or foreseeing
- 込み – from 込む, meaning to be included or integrated, indicating that factors are included in the assessment
Etymology
Phonetic evolution: The reading mikomi comes from combining 見 (mi) with 込み (komi) from 込む, forming a compound that is pronounced mikomi; the sense evolved from “what is seen and included” to the general notion of an estimated future outcome.
Word class
Noun (名詞)