prefigure

[ pree-fig-yer ]

verb (used with object)

, pre·fig·ured, pre·fig·ur·ing.

1. to show or represent beforehand by a figure or type; foreshadow.
2. to picture or represent to oneself beforehand; imagine.

prefigure

/ priːˈfɪɡə /

verb

1. to represent or suggest in advance
2. to imagine or consider beforehand

Derived Forms

• preˈfigurement, noun

Other Words From

• pre·fig·ur·a·tive [pree-, fig, -yer-, uh, -tiv], adjective
• pre·figur·a·tive·ly adverb
• pre·figur·a·tive·ness noun
• pre·figure·ment noun
• unpre·figured adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of prefigure¹

1400–50; late Middle English < Late Latin praefigūrāre. See pre-, figure (v.)

Example Sentences

You get some excellent fourth-wall-breaking and a finish that prefigures “Some Like It Hot.”

From Los Angeles Times

They did not expect what this vocabulary prefigured for their lives.

From Salon

His Catholic zealotry prefigures present-day Catholic ideologues like Patrick Deneen and Leonard Leo, not to mention their political marionettes Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas.

From Salon

And so, working inside the paradigm that Orwell described, Biden exerts control over the present, strives to control narratives about the past, and seeks to make it all seem normal, prefiguring the future.

From Salon

When Rodman sued a company selling T-shirts mimicking his tattooed torso, he prefigured a 21st century tattoo problem: fair use.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• foreshadow
• foretell
• presage
• typify