prefigure

verb, noun — 3 senses

prefigure

verb

/pɹiːfɪɡjɚ/

Etymology From Middle English prefiguren, from Latin praefigurare, from figurare (“to shape, picture”).

1

To show or suggest ahead of time; to represent beforehand.

Often in a Biblical context

Hong Kong, Singapore and Shanghai, all prefigure NRx urban futures.2018 September 29, Roger Burrows, “On Neoreaction”, in The Sociological Review Magazine:

2

To predict or foresee.

Synonyms: presage, portend, forereckon, foreshadow, announce
Derived terms: prefigurable, prefigurement, unprefigured

prefigure

noun

Etymology From Middle English prefiguren, from Latin praefigurare, from figurare (“to shape, picture”).

1

That which prefigures or appears to predict; a harbinger.

Quite different is the way in which the tomboy girled the rebel narrative. In recent years, queer theorists have taken a deep interest in the tomboy as a prefigure for the butch dyke.2005, Leerom Medovoi, Rebels: Youth and the Cold War Origins of Identity, page 293:
In his influential commentary (the Moralia) Gregory the Great interpreted the protagonist typologically as a prefigure of Christ and of the Church persecuted.2012, C. S. Shapley, Studies in French Poetry of the Fifteenth Century, page 5:

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.

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Conjugation of “prefigure”, all tenses