prefigure
Hint at beforehand
To prefigure something is to foreshadow or suggest it before it happens.
Events, symbols, or earlier works prefigure later ones: The small protests prefigured the revolution to come.
The term appears often in literary and religious contexts, where earlier narratives are read as prefiguring later fulfillments: Christians see Isaac's near-sacrifice as prefiguring Christ's crucifixion.
Indicate future events
- presageIndicate beforehand
- forebodeWarn of coming evil
- adumbrateSuggest in outline
- foretokenProphetic indication
bode · forewarn · harbinger · augur · anticipate · herald · signal · indicate
Stand in for
- typifyEmbody characteristic traits
- embodyExpress through physical form
- symbolizeRepresent through signs
- allegorizeRepresent ideas through narrative
signify · exemplify · incarnate · personify · illustrate · shadow · mirror · reflect
Predict future events
- prophesyPredict through revelation
- prognosticateForetell future events
- divineOf or from gods
- predictDeclare future outcomes
augur · oracle · seer · vision · revelation · clairvoyance · prescience · vaticinate
One that comes before
- prototypeFirst functional specimen
- antecedentSomething that precedes
- archetypeOriginal model for copies
- predecessorOne who came first
template · model · sketch · draft · preliminary · ancestor · originator · pioneer
portend
Indicate future events
foretoken · bode · forewarn · harbinger · augur · anticipate · herald · signal · indicate · suggest
represent
Stand in for
- typifyEmbody characteristic traits
- embodyExpress through physical form
- symbolizeRepresent through signs
allegorize · signify · exemplify · incarnate · personify · illustrate · shadow · mirror · reflect · image
foretell
Predict future events
- prophesyPredict through revelation
- prognosticateForetell future events
- divineOf or from gods
predict · augur · oracle · seer · vision · revelation · clairvoyance · prescience · vaticinate · soothsay
forerunner
One that comes before
- prototypeFirst functional specimen
- antecedentSomething that precedes
- archetypeOriginal model for copies
predecessor · template · model · sketch · draft · preliminary · ancestor · originator · pioneer · herald
prefigurerecall
Memory retrieval act
reflect · echo · commemorate · memorialize · recapitulate