prefigure
/pɹiːfɪɡjɚ/ verb, noun
Forms prefigures prefiguring prefigured
- verb (often in a Biblical context) To show or suggest ahead of time; to represent beforehand.
- verb To predict or foresee.
- noun That which prefigures or appears to predict; a harbinger.
Synonyms
presage portend forereckon foreshadow announce bode auspicate prognosticate omen betoken augur foretell forecast predict
Etymology
From Middle English prefiguren, from Latin praefigurare, from figurare (“to shape, picture”).
Webster’s 1913
- verb To show, suggest, or announce, by antecedent types and similitudes; to foreshadow. "Whom all the various types prefigured." South.
Etymology [F. préfigurer, or L. praefigurare, praefiguratum; prae before + figurare to figure. See Figure, and cf. Prefigurate.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “prefigure”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details