Prefiguring

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Showing or suggesting something in advance as a sign or symbol of what will come
2. Acting as an early sign or symbol that points to a future event or condition
3. Serving as a preliminary representation that foreshadows what is to follow

Etymology: "Prefiguring" is the present participle of "prefigure", which came into Middle English from Latin "praefigurare", meaning to shape or picture something beforehand. The Latin is built from "prae-", "before", and "figurare", "to shape", which itself comes from "figura", a form or figure. So the verb carries the sense of a shape or image set down ahead of the event it stands for. That physical sense of shaping is still visible in the modern meaning. To prefigure something is to be an early form or sketch of it, so that a hint of the future appears in what came first. The word's core idea is the same as the Latin: something forms before the thing it resembles.

Synonyms: foreshadowing, preceding