Dictionary

prefigure en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /pɹiːfɪɡjɚ/
• (US) audio

Etymology

From Middle English prefiguren, from Latin praefigurare, from figurare (“to shape, picture”).

Meanings

1. That which prefigures or appears to predict; a harbinger.
   • Quite different is the way in which the tomboy girled the rebel narrative. In recent years, queer theorists have taken a deep interest in the tomboy as a prefigure for the butch dyke. 2005, Leerom Medovoi, Rebels: Youth and the Cold War Origins of Identity, page 293:
   • In his influential commentary (the Moralia) Gregory the Great interpreted the protagonist typologically as a prefigure of Christ and of the Church persecuted. 2012, C. S. Shapley, Studies in French Poetry of the Fifteenth Century, page 5:

Forms

prefigure en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /pɹiːfɪɡjɚ/
• (US) audio

Etymology

From Middle English prefiguren, from Latin praefigurare, from figurare (“to shape, picture”).

Meanings

1. (qualifier:often in a Biblical context) To show or suggest ahead of time; to represent beforehand.
   • Hong Kong, Singapore and Shanghai, all prefigure NRx urban futures. 2018 September 29, Roger Burrows, “On Neoreaction”, in The Sociological Review Magazine:
2. To predict or foresee.

Forms

Deriveds

prefigurable · prefigurement · unprefigured

Synonyms

portend · forereckon · announce · foreshadow · presage

Translations (3)

fr préfigurer (show ahead of time) · bg загатвам предварително (show ahead of time) · es prefigurar (show ahead of time)