It's a long word for thinking about what you want from a scene. And it doesn't just apply to taking photographs. Take a look at this image:
A field in Scotland
Well, is it just a field? Or can you imagine it with a house on it, and a new driveway, possibly some lawns and flowers. You're standing in the raspberry patch actually.
To be brutally honest it doesn't look like much all raw like this. It needs a bit of attention and perhaps the eye of faith to see any potential whatsoever. But that's what I've been doing this past week, trying to visualise what could be, and trying to persuade other people (architects, builders, planners, vendors, neighbours) that our vision is a viable one. And trying to persuade ourselves that this is the plot for us and to just go and do it!
Not much different from the life of a photograph. Most of them start of a bit like this and its only by examining the potential, playing with some ideas and some different interpretations do you get to the one that makes sense for you.
... or a place to call home?