What does "cataphora" mean?

The use of a pronoun, or other linguistic unit, before the noun phrase to which it refers, sometimes used for rhetorical effect.

What is a synonym for "cataphora"?

Common synonyms include: anaphora, prolepsis.

Pronounced //kætəˈfɔɹə//.

//kætəˈfɔɹə// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Noun

1
The use of a pronoun, or other linguistic unit, before the noun phrase to which it refers, sometimes used for rhetorical effect. countable, rhetoric, uncountable

From Ancient Greek καταφορά (kataphorá, “a downward motion”), from κατά (katá, “downwards”) + φέρω (phérō, “I carry”).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.