<p><strong>Noun</strong></p><ul><li>(plural: prolepses)<ul><li>Rhetoric: The anticipation of possible objections in order to answer them in advance.</li><li>The assigning of a person, event, etc., to a period earlier than the actual one; the representation of something in the future as if it already existed or had occurred; prochronism.</li><li>The use of a descriptive word in anticipation of its becoming applicable.</li><li>A fundamental conception or assumption in Epicureanism or Stoicism arising spontaneously in the mind without conscious reflection; thought provoked by sense perception.</li><li>Pathology: The return of an attack of a periodic disease or of a paroxysm before the expected time or at progressively shorter intervals.</li></ul></li></ul>