Standard Lemma guide

cataphora

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /kætəˈfɔɹə/
  • /kəˈtæfəɹə/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The use of a pronoun, or other linguistic unit, before the noun phrase to which it refers, sometimes used for rhetorical effect.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, rhetoric, uncountable

Topics: human-sciences, linguistics, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Ancient Greek καταφορά (kataphorá, “a downward motion”), from κατά (katá, “downwards”) + φέρω (phérō, “I carry”).

Across languages

Translations

8 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: catàfora — referring to a noun that appears later
  • Czech: katafora — referring to a noun that appears later
  • French: cataphore — referring to a noun that appears later
  • Greek: καταφορά (kataforá) — referring to a noun that appears later
  • Occitan: catafòra — referring to a noun that appears later
  • Polish: katafora — referring to a noun that appears later
  • Serbo-Croatian: katafora — referring to a noun that appears later
  • Spanish: catáfora — referring to a noun that appears later