prolepsis
/pɹoʊˈlɛpsɪs/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.09 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A construction that consists of placing an element in a syntactic unit before that to which it would logically correspond.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
A so-called "preconception", i.e., a pre-theoretical notion which can lead to true knowledge of the world.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
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.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
The practice of placing information about the ending of a story near the beginning, as a literary device.
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "Prolepsis makes objections; then replies; And wisely thus anticipates surprise."
- "Point (1) seems to imply that one may have a false judgement because of a mismatch between different criteria for truth. For example, my sensation is paired with a prolepsis of a horse, therefore I make an assertion that ‘there is a horse’, which upon further inspection may turn out to be a cow."
- "[…] [Edmund] Plovvden being of the Romiſh perſvvaſion, ſome Setters trapanned him (pardon the prolepſis) to hear Maſſe: But aftervvards Plovvden underſtanding, that the pretender to Officiate vvas no Prieſt, but a meer Lay-man (on deſigne to make a diſcovering) Oh! The caſe is altered quoth Plovvden: No Priest, no Maſſe."
Etymology
From Latin prolepsis, from Ancient Greek πρόληψις (prólēpsis, “preconception, anticipation”), from προλαμβάνω (prolambánō, “take beforehand, anticipate”).
Origin
- Source language: Latin
Word Breakdown
- Root: prolepsis, πρόληψις