prolepsis

Etymology

From Latin prolepsis, from Ancient Greek πρόληψις (prólēpsis, “preconception, anticipation”), from προλαμβάνω (prolambánō, “take beforehand, anticipate”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɹoʊˈlɛpsɪs/

Noun

prolepsis (countable and uncountable, plural prolepses)

1. (rhetoric) The assignment of something to a period of time that precedes it.
2. (logic) The anticipation of an objection to an argument.
3. (grammar, rhetoric) A construction that consists of placing an element in a syntactic unit before that to which it would logically correspond.
4. (philosophy, epistemology) A so-called "preconception", i.e. a pre-theoretical notion which can lead to true knowledge of the world. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
5. (botany) Growth in which lateral branches develop from a lateral meristem, after the formation of a bud or following a period of dormancy, when the lateral meristem is split from a terminal meristem.

References

• Silva Rhetoricae