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prologue

noun

  1. opening to a story that establishes the setting and gives background details
L325997 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /ˈpɹəʊlɒɡ/ / /ˈpɹoʊlɔɡ/ / /ˈpɹoʊlɑɡ/

noun

Etymology: From Middle English prologue, prologe, from Old French prologue, from Latin prologus, from Ancient Greek πρόλογος (prólogos). Equivalent to pro- + -logue.

  1. A speech or section used as an introduction, especially to a play or novel.

    “H'm !” he said, “so, so—it is a tragedy in a prologue and three acts. I am going down this afternoon to see the curtain fall for the third time on what […] will prove a good burlesque ; but it all began dramatically enough. It was last Saturday […] that two boys, playing in the little spinney just outside Wembley Park Station, came across three large parcels done up in American cloth. […]”

  2. One who delivers a prologue.

    And hither am I come, / A Prologue arm’d, but not in confidence / Of Authors pen, or Actors voyce;

  3. A component of a computer program that prepares the computer to execute a routine.
  4. An individual time trial before a stage race, used to determine which rider wears the leader's jersey on the first stage.
  5. A liturgical book containing daily readings, including hagiography.

verb

Etymology: From Middle English prologue, prologe, from Old French prologue, from Latin prologus, from Ancient Greek πρόλογος (prólogos). Equivalent to pro- + -logue.

  1. To introduce with a formal preface, or prologue.

    […]harbindgers preceading ſtill the fates and prologue to the Omen comming on[…]