hysteron proteron Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun reversal of normal order of two words or sentences etc. (as in `bred and born')
  2. noun the logical fallacy of using as a true premise a proposition that is yet to be proved

WordNet

Hys"te*ron prot"e*ron
Etymology
NL., fr. Gr. the latter, following + before, others, sooner.
Definitions
  1. (Rhet.) (a) A figure in which the natural order of sense is reversed; hysterology; as, valet atque vivit, "he is well and lives." (b) An inversion of logical order, in which the conclusion is put before the premises, or the thing proved before the evidence.

Webster 1913