prochronism
(ˈprəʊkrənɪz(ə)m)
[f. pro-2 1 + Gr. χρόνος time + -ism: cf. anachronism. So F. prochronisme (1762 in Acad.).]
The referring of an event, etc., to an earlier date than the true one. A particular case of anachronism, q.v.
| a 1646 J. Gregory Posthuma (1649) 174 An error..herein is called Anachronism:..either saith too much, and that is a Prochronism; or too little, and that is a Metachronism. 1677 Cary Chronology ii. i. i. v. 105 Which seems to be a Prochronism of 25 Years. 1838 Archæologia XXVII. 252 The prochronisms in these [Towneley] Mysteries are very remarkable... Caiaphas sings mass. 1899 J. A. Gibbs Cotswold Village (ed. 2) 156 It is a prochronism to talk of the May-fly; for, as a matter of fact, the first ten days of June usually constitute the may-fly season. |