prologue
noun
- opening to a story that establishes the setting and gives background details
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.
- 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. […]””
- One who delivers a prologue.
“And hither am I come, / A Prologue arm’d, but not in confidence / Of Authors pen, or Actors voyce;”
- A component of a computer program that prepares the computer to execute a routine.
- An individual time trial before a stage race, used to determine which rider wears the leader's jersey on the first stage.
- 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.
- To introduce with a formal preface, or prologue.
“[…]harbindgers preceading ſtill the fates and prologue to the Omen comming on[…]”