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prefigure. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
prefigure, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
prefigure in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
prefigure you have here. The definition of the word
prefigure will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
prefigure, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Etymology
From Middle English prefiguren, from Latin praefigurare, from figurare (“to shape, picture”).
Pronunciation
Verb
prefigure (third-person singular simple present prefigures, present participle prefiguring, simple past and past participle prefigured)
- (often in a Biblical context) To show or suggest ahead of time; to represent beforehand.
2018 September 29, Roger Burrows, “On Neoreaction”, in The Sociological Review Magazine:Hong Kong, Singapore and Shanghai, all prefigure NRx urban futures.
- To predict or foresee.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations
Noun
prefigure (plural prefigures)
- That which prefigures or appears to predict; a harbinger.
2005, Leerom Medovoi, Rebels: Youth and the Cold War Origins of Identity, page 293: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.
2012, C. S. Shapley, Studies in French Poetry of the Fifteenth Century, page 5:In his influential commentary (the Moralia) Gregory the Great interpreted the protagonist typologically as a prefigure of Christ and of the Church persecuted.
Spanish
Verb
prefigure
- inflection of prefigurar:
- first/third-person singular present subjunctive
- third-person singular imperative