prefigure

American

[pree-fig-yer] / priˈfɪg yər /

verb (used with object)

prefigured, prefiguring

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

prefigure British

/ priːˈfɪɡə /

verb

to represent or suggest in advance
to imagine or consider beforehand

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

prefigurative adjective
prefiguratively adverb
prefigurativeness noun
prefigurement noun
unprefigured adjective

Etymology

Origin of prefigure

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

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023