from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Prolepsis \Pro*lep"sis\, n. [L., fr. Gr. ?, from ? to take
beforehand; ? before + ? to take.]
[1913 Webster]
1. (Rhet.)
(a) A figure by which objections are anticipated or
prevented. --Abp. Bramhall.
(b) A necessary truth or assumption; a first or assumed
principle.
[1913 Webster]
2. (Chron.) An error in chronology, consisting in an event
being dated before the actual time.
[1913 Webster]
3. (Gram.) The application of an adjective to a noun in
anticipation, or to denote the result, of the action of
the verb; as, to strike one dumb.
[1913 Webster] Proleptic