Prefigurements

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Early signs or representations that foreshadow something that will happen or appear later on
2. Advance hints or images that anticipate a future event, idea, or form before it fully arrives
3. Earlier instances that serve as a forecast or model of what will come afterward in time

Etymology: "Prefigurements" is the plural of "prefigurement," a noun formed in English from the verb "prefigure" and the suffix "-ment." "Prefigure" combines the prefix "pre-," meaning "before," with "figure," which comes through Old French from Latin "figura," meaning shape or form. To prefigure something is to show or represent its form in advance, so a prefigurement is the thing that does this: an earlier sign, image or anticipation of something that comes later. The suffix "-ment" is a common English noun-forming ending, borrowed through French from Latin "-mentum," and it turns verbs into nouns denoting an action, a result or a means, as in "judgment" or "arrangement." Attaching it to "prefigure" yields a word that names the act or result of foreshadowing. Because the form is a transparent combination of familiar parts, the word is best read as a straightforward coinage built from the parts above rather than an independent inheritance.

Synonyms: foreshadowings, forecasts