hysteron proteron
English
Etymology
From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Ancient Greek, from ὕστερον (hústeron, “latter, arriving late”) + πρότερον (próteron, “former, before”).
Noun
hysteron proteron (plural hysteron proterons)
- (rhetoric) A figure of speech in which a phrase that should come last is put first; hysterology.
- "He is well and lives" is a hysteron proteron.
- An inversion or reversal of the natural order of things.