anaphor

Plural: anaphora, anaphors

Noun

• A word or phrase that refers back to an earlier one.
• a word (such as a pronoun) used to avoid repetition; the referent of an anaphor is determined by its antecedent
• An expression referring to another expression. In stricter uses, an expression referring to something earlier in the discourse or, even more strictly, only reflexive and reciprocal pronouns.

Examples

• He said ’that play was genius, and it won me the game,’ where ’it’ is the anaphor.

Antonyms

cataphora, logophor

Related Words

anaphora, deixis