prelude
Americannoun
-
preludes
plural
-
a preliminary to an action, event, condition, or work of broader scope and higher importance.
- Synonyms:
- beginning, opening, introduction
-
any action, event, comment, etc. that precedes something else.
-
Music.
-
a relatively short, independent instrumental composition, free in form and resembling an improvisation.
-
a piece that precedes a more important movement.
-
the overture to an opera.
-
an independent piece, of moderate length, sometimes used as an introduction to a fugue.
-
music opening a church service; an introductory voluntary.
-
verb (used with object)
-
preludes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
preluded,
past participle, past
-
preluding
present participle
-
to serve as a prelude or introduction to.
-
to introduce by a prelude.
-
to play as a prelude.
verb (used without object)
-
preludes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
preluded,
past participle, past
-
preluding
present participle
-
to serve as a prelude.
-
to give a prelude.
-
to play a prelude.
noun
-
-
a piece of music that precedes a fugue, or forms the first movement of a suite, or an introduction to an act in an opera, etc
-
(esp for piano) a self-contained piece of music
-
-
something serving as an introduction or preceding event, occurrence, etc
verb
-
to serve as a prelude to (something)
-
(tr) to introduce by a prelude
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
preludernoun
-
prelusionnoun
-
preludialadjective
-
preludiousadjective
-
prelusiveadjective
-
unpreludedadjective
-
preludiouslyadverb
-
prelusivelyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
preludesimple
-
preludessimple
-
have preludedperfect
-
has preludedperfect
-
am preludingprogressive
-
are preludingprogressive
-
is preludingprogressive
-
have been preludingperfect progressive
-
has been preludingperfect progressive
Past
-
preludedsimple
-
had preludedperfect
-
was preludingprogressive
-
were preludingprogressive
-
had been preludingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of prelude
1555–65; (noun) < Medieval Latin praelūdium, equivalent to prae- pre- + -lūdium play; compare Latin lūdus play; (v.) < Latin praelūdere to play beforehand
Explanation
A prelude is an introductory action, event, or performance that comes before a bigger or more momentous one. It is made of up the prefix pre- meaning "before," and the Latin root ludere meaning "play." Speakers of old school French and Latin understood a prelude to be the notes that they would play or sing to warm up or test an instrument. Today preludes are more like introductions than practice, but you can still think of them as small warm ups to the main events. Preludes are often used in classical music, as well as in novels, to set the tone for the rest of the orchestral piece or story.
Vocabulary lists containing prelude
"Two Kinds" (from The Joy Luck Club) by Amy Tan
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
"Total Loss Weekend" by Don Delillo
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Painful, for sure, but a prelude to a stirring second half from the striker and his new-old team-mates.
From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2026
The aim is to introduce more transparency to this practice as a prelude to reforming it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
His peregrinations are the prelude to a love story as passionate as it is fleeting.
From Barron's ● Sep. 4, 2026
The company said layoffs were a necessary prelude to modernizing the facility.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
If the music Bod had heard until then was a prelude, it was a prelude no longer.
From "The Graveyard Book" by Neil Gaiman
It has also caused speculation among Russian analysts and the country’s political class over whether it preludes another draft.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
He started playing piano at the age of two and, at just 17, gave a remarkable two-and-a-half-hour concert featuring the 24 preludes and fugues by composer Dmitri Shostakovich.
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2024
After intermission came the second book of Debussy’s preludes, more convincing but not the old Pollini.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 27, 2024
It hosted world gymnastics and track titles, both of which were preludes to the World Cup, which is costing the country an estimated $220 billion.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 16, 2022
But I was so determined not to try, not to be anybody different that I learned to play only the most ear-splitting preludes, the most discordant hymns.
From "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan
The Taliban did not issue a formal statement on the anniversary of the al-Qaeda terrorist attacks that preluded them being driven from power 20 years earlier.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 11, 2021
Similar marches have since preluded Pride events across the country.
From Washington Times ● Jun. 6, 2019
Seventy years later, it was lost to the modern urges that preluded the Seattle Century 21 World’s Fair.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 22, 2018
Their Majesties' present Afric tour was preluded when they left Antwerp some weeks ago on the steamer Thysville, but began in earnest as they landed at Boma, in the mouth of Mother Congo.
From Time Magazine Archive
Logically, he concludes the work by recalling the theme of his hero upon whose life he has preluded so tunefully.
From Franz Liszt by James Huneker
They were preluding a Pan-Pacific Buddhists' Conference to be held in Tokyo in 1934.
From Time Magazine Archive
He was merely preluding in that fashion which the exactitude of the Tuscan law requires, and replying to the interesting interrogatories regarding his former life, so essential to a due understanding of his present complaint.
From Gerald Fitzgerald The Chevalier by Charles James Lever
He was heating them, preluding a score, passing from it to another.
From The Paliser case by Edgar Saltus
At the moment when the present history begins, the vibrating tones of the piano were heard preluding the passionate allegro of the aria from "La Traviata": gran Dio morir si giovine.
From The Marquis of Pe?alta (Marta y Mar?a) A Realistic Social Novel by Armando Palacio Vald?s
I was all eagerness, and presently he was absently preluding at my piano.
From Melomaniacs by James Huneker
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
