MEANING
To foreshadow or represent in advance through an earlier form or occurrence.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- prefigure a change
- prefigure a later scene
On the page
The opening image prefigured the final departure.
Her first experiment prefigured the method she later adopted.
Nearby words
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- prefigure
- Past tense
- prefigured
- Past participle
- prefigured
- Present participle
- prefiguring
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- prefigure
- Present continuous
- am/is/are prefiguring
- Present perfect
- have/has prefigured
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been prefiguring
- Past
- prefigured
- Past continuous
- was/were prefiguring
- Past perfect
- had prefigured
- Past perfect continuous
- had been prefiguring
- Future
- will prefigure
- Future continuous
- will be prefiguring
- Future perfect
- will have prefigured
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been prefiguring
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: literary. Forms: prefigure; prefigures; prefigured; prefigured; prefiguring Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Third-person singular: prefigures.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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