also prospecter, 1846 in the mining sense of "one who searches for valuable minerals or ores as a preliminary to regular operations;" agent noun from prospect (v.).
Entries linking to prospector
prospect v.
"explore for gold or other minerals, examine land with a view to a mining claim," 1841, from prospect (n.) in specialized sense of "spot giving prospects of ore" (1832). Earlier in a now-obsolete sense of "look forth, look out over" (1550s), from Latin prospectare, frequentative of prospicere. Related: Prospected; prospecting.