Word.ws English Dictionary

proleptically

proleptically adverb: in a proleptic manner; anticipatorily.

Adverb

proleptically (comparative more proleptically, superlative most proleptically)

  1. In a proleptic manner; anticipatorily.
    • When we name an event, calling it fire, we speak proleptically; we do not name an immediate event; that is impossible. We employ a term of discourse; we invoke a meaning, namely, the potential consequence of the existence.1925, John Dewey. Experience and Nature In The Later Works of John Dewey, Vol. 1, Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale (IL), p. 150
    • The ultimacy of God's eschatological revelation impinges proleptically on . . . and, then, it all gets over my head.2001, Mark Allan Powell, Chasing the Eastern Star, page 18

Forms of proleptically

comparativemore proleptically
superlativemost proleptically

Origin of proleptically

From proleptic + -ally or proleptical + -ly.

Questions about proleptically

What does proleptically mean?
Proleptically means in a proleptic manner; anticipatorily.
What part of speech is proleptically?
Proleptically is an adverb.

Words near proleptically in the dictionary

  1. prolepses
  2. prolepsis
  3. proleptic
  4. proleptic Julian calendar
  5. proleptical
  6. proleptically
  7. proleptics
  8. proles
  9. proletaire
  10. proletaires
  11. proletairism

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: proleptically (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “proleptically.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/proleptically. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.