different between anticipate vs prefigure

English

Etymology

From Latin anticip?tus, perfect passive participle of anticip?re (“anticipate”); from ante (“before”), + capere (“take”). See capable.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /æn?t?s.?.pe?t/
• (US) IPA^(key): /æn?t?s.?.pe?t/

Verb

anticipate (third-person singular simple present anticipates, present participle anticipating, simple past and past participle anticipated)

1. (transitive) To act before (someone), especially to prevent an action.
   • c. 1824 (written, published in 1891) Robert Hall, Fragment on Popery

     When two parties, each formidable for their numbers, and the weight of their influence and property, are animated by an equal degree of zeal, it is natural to anticipate the final success of that which possesses the most inherent strength.

   Synonym: preclude

2. to take up or introduce (something) prematurely.

3. to know of (something) before it happens; to expect.

   Synonyms: expect, foretaste, foresee

4. to eagerly wait for (something)

   Synonym: look forward to

Usage notes

The words anticipate and expect both regard some future event as likely to take place. Nowadays they are often used interchangeably although anticipate is associated with acting because of an expectation: e.g. "skilled sportsmen anticipate the action and position themselves accordingly".

Related terms

• anticipation
• anticipatory

Translations

Esperanto

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /antit?si?pate/

Verb

anticipate

1. present adverbial passive participle of anticipi

Ido

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /antit?si?pate/

Verb

anticipate

1. adverbial present passive participle of anticipar

Italian

Verb

anticipate

1. second-person plural present indicative of anticipare
2. second-person plural imperative of anticipare
3. feminine plural of anticipato

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /an.ti.ki?pa?.te/, [än?t??k??pä?t??]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /an.ti.t??i?pa.te/, [?n?t?it??i?p??t??]

Verb

anticip?te

1. second-person plural present active imperative of anticip?

English

Etymology

From Middle English prefiguren, from Latin praefigurare, from figurare (“to shape, picture”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /p?i?f??j?/

Verb

prefigure (third-person singular simple present prefigures, present participle prefiguring, simple past and past participle prefigured)

1. To show or suggest ahead of time; to represent beforehand (often used in a Biblical context).
2. To predict or foresee.

Synonyms

• presage
• portend
• forereckon
• foreshadow
• announce

Derived terms

• prefigurement

Translations

Noun

prefigure (plural prefigures)

1. That which prefigures or appears to predict; a harbinger.
   • 2005, Leerom Medovoi, Rebels: Youth and the Cold War Origins of Identity (page 293)

     Quite different is the way in which the tomboy girled the rebel narrative. In recent years, queer theorists have taken a deep interest in the tomboy as a prefigure for the butch dyke.

   • 2012, C. S. Shapley, Studies in French Poetry of the Fifteenth Century (page 5)

     In his influential commentary (the Moralia) Gregory the Great interpreted the protagonist typologically as a prefigure of Christ and of the Church persecuted.

Spanish

Verb

prefigure

1. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of prefigurar.
2. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of prefigurar.
3. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present subjunctive form of prefigurar.
4. Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of prefigurar.