Hysteron
/ˈhɪstərɒn/noun
A Greek word meaning “the later one,” used in rhetoric and in the phrase “hysteron proteron” for reversing the natural order of events.
Did you know?In classical rhetoric, hysteron appears in the phrase hysteron proteron, where speakers deliberately put the later event before the earlier one for dramatic effect.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*udero-
“back, hind part, later/after”
Ancient Greek
Greek
ὕστερος (hýsteros)
“later, afterwards, the latter”
Ancient Greek
Greek
ὕστερον (hýsteron)
“later; the later thing”
Classical Greek Rhetoric
Greek
ὕστερον πρότερον (hýsteron próteron)
“a rhetorical inversion in which the later action is mentioned before the earlier one”
Modern English
English
hysteron
“the later of two things, especially in rhetorical contexts”
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