1. to be an early indication or version of something that will appear or happen later
Usage: formal
2. to imagine or picture something beforehand
Usage: formal

Examples

• The early protests prefigured the revolution that would come years later.
• His childhood drawings seemed to prefigure his later career as an artist.
• The economic troubles prefigured a major recession.
• Ancient myths often prefigure modern psychological theories.
• She tried to prefigure what life would be like in the new city.
• The novel’s opening chapter prefigures the tragic ending.
• Early computer models prefigured today’s advanced technology.