anaphoric

American  

[an-uh-fawr-ik, -for-] / ˌæn əˈfɔr ɪk, -ˈfɒr- /

adjective

Grammar.

1. referring back to or substituting for a preceding word or group of words.

   anaphoric reference.

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anaphoric British  

/ ˌænəˈfɒrɪk /

adjective

1. of or relating to anaphorism

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Other Word Forms

• anaphorically adverb

Etymology

Origin of anaphoric

First recorded in 1910–15; anaphor(a) + -ic

Example Sentences

Ultimately, aMCI patients performed significantly worse than the control groups when producing sentences with "anaphoric coreference," the ones with ambiguity about the identity of the person referred to via a pronoun.

From Science Daily • Feb. 29, 2024

The pronoun is unstable, subject to anaphoric shifts.

From The Guardian • Jul. 16, 2012

This pin could be moved each day so that the anaphoric clock kept step with the seasonal variation of the times of sunrise and sunset and the lengths of day and night.

From On the Origin of Clockwork, Perpetual Motion Devices, and the Compass by Price, Derek J. de Solla (Derek John de Solla)

In the anaphoric clock a disc engraved with the stars is rotated automatically behind a fixed grille of wires marking lines of altitude and azimuth.

From On the Origin of Clockwork, Perpetual Motion Devices, and the Compass by Price, Derek J. de Solla (Derek John de Solla)

Parts of two such discs from anaphoric clocks have been found, one at Salzburg14 and one at Grand in the Vosges,15 both of them dating from the 2nd century A.D.

From On the Origin of Clockwork, Perpetual Motion Devices, and the Compass by Price, Derek J. de Solla (Derek John de Solla)