Meaning & use
Anaphoric
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Relating to a word or phrase that refers back to another word or phrase used earlier in a text or conversation.
See it in a sentence
In the sentence 'Maria lost her keys,' the pronoun 'her' is anaphoric, referring back to Maria.
Linguists study anaphoric reference to understand how listeners track meaning across a discourse.
A note on using this word
Anaphoric reference is a core concept in linguistics, contrasted with 'cataphoric' reference, which points forward to something not yet mentioned.
Words with an opposite meaning
cataphoric
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