Prolepses meaning : The assignment of something to a period of time that precedes it. The anticipation of an objection to an argument. (grammar) A construction that consists of placing an element in a syntactic unit before that to which it would logically correspond. A so-called "preconception", i.e. a pre-theoretical notion which can lead to true knowledge of the world. Growth in which lateral branches develop from a lateral meristem, after the formation of a bud or following a period of dormancy, when the lateral meristem is split from a terminal meristem. (authorship) The practice of placing information about the ending of a story near the beginning, as a literary device.