Pro*lep"sis (?), n. [L., fr. Gr. , from to take beforehand; before + to take.]
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.
2. Chron.
An error in chronology, consisting in an event being dated before the actual time.
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.
© Webster 1913.