Proleptics
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 The art and science of predicting in medicine. obsolete, uncountable
"At the best, the student of proleptics will anticipate paralysis, premature senility, and asthenic apoplexy towards middle life, when he finds the pulse feeble, and the spirits correspondingly low in youth, unless remedial measures be adopted in good time, and persevered in with due diligence."
- 2 The art of making of predictions. broadly, obsolete, uncountable
"The desire to know definitely and presciently is also one of the most urgent of the instincts proper of man; it leads him on to the most mystical speculations as to the future, and is the orectic basis of all the arts of divination, as well as of scientific Proleptics or anticipation of the order of nature."
- 3 The act of making prophecies. uncountable
"To be sure the anticipatory proleptics of the "historical survey in future-form" associated with pseudonymity rests upon the literary fiction of the pre-historicality of the revelation of these secrets; but this fictionality is intended to emphasize precisely by means of its esoteric quality that God will allow the elect righteous (cf. I Enoch 1:1) and wise persons (cf. I Enoch 100:6, 104:12) of the present day to participate already in his revelation that has proceeded from the mouths of the righeous and wise ones of pre-history, through the "literary" medium of the book."
- 4 The elaboration and exploration of proleptic themes and ideas; the employment of prolepsis. uncountable
"Getting action can make use of prolepsis; that is, getting action may proceed by inveigling others to take an anachronistic view of the future. Either way, proleptics is for them an art of paradox."
- 5 plural of proleptic. form-of, plural, uncountable
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
More examples"At the best, the student of proleptics will anticipate paralysis, premature senility, and asthenic apoplexy towards middle life, when he finds the pulse feeble, and the spirits correspondingly low in youth, unless remedial measures be adopted in good time, and persevered in with due diligence."
Etymology
From proleptic + -ics.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.