prefigure Hear it!

prefigure Definition

pre·fig·ure (prē fig′yər, -yo̵or)

transitive verb -·ured, -·ur·ing

  1. to suggest beforehand; be an antecedent figure or type of; foreshadow
  2. to picture to oneself, or imagine, beforehand

Etymology: ME prefiguren < LL(Ec) praefigurare < L prae-, pre- + figurare, to fashion: see figure

prefigure Related Forms

pre·fig′·ura·tive (-yo̵or ə tiv, -yər-) adjective pre·fig′·ura·tively adverb pre·fig′·ura·tive·ness noun pre·fig′·ure·ment noun

prefigure Synonyms

prefigure

v.

symbolize, signify, indicate; see mean 1.

prefigure Usage Examples

Object

  • event: His reply to her prefigured events to come, at least for James.
  • development: His concern with social themes prefigured the future development of drama in both Europe and America.
  • society: It does not reflect a simple linear developmental logic, nor does it prefigure a world society or a world community.
  • reality: There are, however, certain occasions when art prefigures reality.
  • concept: Donald Bruce said that in a number of ways the group prefigured the concept of the AEBC.
  • future: In that sense Lafargue both prefigures the future and reflects the elitist Blanquist past of revolutionary thought in France.

Subject

potlatch: Despite their Hegelian modernism, they claimed that anarcho-communism had been prefigured by the potlatch: the gift economy of Polynesian tribes.

Modifying Another Word

  • much: Its concern for the environment prefigured much of the approach of today's Green movements.
  • supposedly: The community radio stations supposedly prefigured the imminent reorganization of the whole of society around direct democracy after the anarcho-communist revolution.
  • not: Clearly, these arrangements prefigure not the beginnings of a 'united front ' , but a political party of some sort.
  • clearly: Nevertheless, the drawing clearly prefigures Picasso's decision to go ahead.
  • only: Many critics deem ' The Scream ' to be Munch's best self-portrait, with all the others only prefiguring that unforgettable picture.

Used with why or when

what: See how David, Jesus ' ancestor, prefigured what happened to Jesus himself?

Preposition: in

  • way: This conception prefigured in significant ways the Good Friday Agreement of nearly 30 years later.
  • past: Yet, despite their Hegelian modernism, the Situationists believed that the utopian future had been prefigured in the tribal past.

Preposition: by

potlatch: Despite their Hegelian modernism, they claimed that anarcho-communism had been prefigured by the potlatch: the gift economy of Polynesian tribes.