Prefigure

//pɹiːfɪɡjɚ// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 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."

Verb
  1. 1
    To show or suggest ahead of time; to represent beforehand.

    "Hong Kong, Singapore and Shanghai, all prefigure NRx urban futures."

  2. 2
    indicate, as with a sign or an omen wordnet
  3. 3
    To predict or foresee.
  4. 4
    imagine or consider beforehand wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
foreshadowforeshadowportendpresagepresageadumbrate

Example

More examples

"Hong Kong, Singapore and Shanghai, all prefigure NRx urban futures."

Etymology

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

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