Anthypophora

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A rhetorical figure in which a speaker anticipates an opponent's objections or questions and then responds to them directly
2. The device of raising a supposed counterargument or question from an imagined rival and answering it in the same speech
3. A debating technique where the speaker voices possible objections to their own position and then rebuts each one in turn

Etymology: Anthypophora is a rhetorical device in which a speaker anticipates objections from an opponent and answers them in advance. Its name is built from two Greek parts: "anti", meaning "against" or "in return", and "hypophora", a term for a question a speaker asks and then answers. Put together, the word describes a reply to an objection that has not yet been spoken aloud, so the speaker turns a would-be rebuttal into a planned element of the argument. The Greek noun "anthupophora" combines the prefix "anti-" with "hupophora", which itself rests on "hupo", meaning "under", and "pherein", meaning "to bring" or "to carry". The sense is literally something carried back in response, and the Greek compound was the source from which the English term was taken.

Synonyms: hypophora