What does "prefiguration" mean?

A vague representation or suggestion of something before it has happened or been accomplished.

Prefiguration

Common synonyms include: actuarial prediction, adumbration, adumbration, apocalypse, augury, auspice.

noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Noun

1
A vague representation or suggestion of something before it has happened or been accomplished. countable, uncountable
"Those ceremonies were prefigurations of Christ to come : these traditions are defigurations and deformations of Christ exhibited"
2
the act of providing vague advance indications; representing beforehand wordnet
3
Something that prefigures. countable, uncountable
4
an example that prefigures or foreshadows what is to come wordnet

"Those ceremonies were prefigurations of Christ to come : these traditions are defigurations and deformations of Christ exhibited"

From Late Latin praefigurationem, nominative form of praefiguratio.

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