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prolepsis

 - 5 dictionary results

pro⋅lep⋅sis

  [proh-lep-sis]
Use prolepsis in a Sentence
–noun, plural -ses  [-seez] .
1. Rhetoric. the anticipation of possible objections in order to answer them in advance.
2. the assigning of a person, event, etc., to a period earlier than the actual one; the representation of something in the future as if it already existed or had occurred; prochronism.
3. the use of a descriptive word in anticipation of its becoming applicable.
4. a fundamental conception or assumption in Epicureanism or Stoicism arising spontaneously in the mind without conscious reflection; thought provoked by sense perception.
5. Pathology. the return of an attack of a periodic disease or of a paroxysm before the expected time or at progressively shorter intervals.
Origin:
1570–80; < LL prolēpsis < Gk prólēpsis anticipation, preconception, equiv. to prolēp- (verbid s. of prolambánein to anticipate (pro- pro- 2 + lambánein to take)) + -sis -sis

Related forms:
pro⋅lep⋅tic  [proh-lep-tik] , pro⋅lep⋅ti⋅cal, adjective
pro⋅lep⋅ti⋅cal⋅ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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pro·lep·sis   (prō-lěp'sĭs)   
n.   pl. pro·lep·ses (-sēz)

  1. The anachronistic representation of something as existing before its proper or historical time, as in the precolonial United States.

    1. The assignment of something, such as an event or name, to a time that precedes it, as in If you tell the cops, you're a dead man.

    2. The use of a descriptive word in anticipation of the act or circumstances that would make it applicable, as dry in They drained the lake dry.

  3. The anticipation and answering of an objection or argument before one's opponent has put it forward.


[Late Latin prolēpsis, from Greek, from prolambanein, to anticipate : pro-, before; see pro-2 + lambanein, lēp-, to take.]
pro·lep'tic (-lěp'tĭk), pro·lep'ti·cal (-tĭ-kəl) adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

prolepsis 
1577, "the taking of something future as already done or existing," from L., from Gk. prolepsis "an anticipating," lit. "a taking beforehand," from prolambanein "to take before," from pro- "before" + lambanein "to take" (see analemma).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

prolepsis pro·lep·sis (prō-lěp'sĭs)
n. pro·lep·ses (-sēz)
The return of paroxysms of a recurrent disease at intervals that progressively become shorter.

pro·lep'tic (-lěp'tĭk) adj.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Encyclopedia

prolepsis

a figure of speech in which a future act or development is represented as if already accomplished or existing. The following lines from John Keats's "Isabella" (1820), for example, proleptically anticipate the assassination of a living character:So the two brothers and their murdered manRode past fair

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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