Prolepsis

Pronunciation

• IPA: /pɹoʊˈlÉ›psɪs/

Origin

From Latin prolepsis, from Ancient Greek πρόληψις (prolepsis, "preconception, anticipation"), from προλαμβάνω (prolambano, "take beforehand, anticipate")

Full definition of prolepsis

Noun

1. (rhetoric) The assignment of something to a period of time that precedes it.
2. (logic) The anticipation of an objection to an argument.
3. (grammar, rhetoric) A construction that consists of placing an element in a syntactic unit before that to which it would logically correspond.
4. (philosophy, epistemology) A so-called "preconception", i.e. a pre-theoretical notion which can lead to true knowledge of the world.
5. (botany) Growth in which lateral branches develop from a lateral meristem, after the formation of a bud or following a period of dormancy, when the lateral meristem is split from a terminal meristem.

Synonyms

• (representation of something that has occurred before its time) anachronism, flashforward, foreshadowing
• (anticipation of objection to an argument) procatalepsis
• (grammar, rhetoric) left dislocation

Antonyms

• (botany) syllepsis

Derived terms

• proleptic

Related terms

• -lepsy
• syllepsis