prolepsis

  1. Noun.  (rhetoric) The assignment of something to a period of time that precedes it.
  2. Noun.  (logic) The anticipation of an objection to an argument.
  3. Noun.  (grammar, rhetoric) A construction that consists of placing an element in a syntactic unit before that to which it would logically correspond.
  4. Noun.  (philosophy, epistemology) A so-called "preconception", i.e. a pre-theoretical notion which can lead to true knowledge of the world. (rfex) .
  5. Noun.  (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.

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This entry was last updated on RefTopia from its source on 3/20/2012.