exordium
Americannoun
-
the beginning of anything.
-
the introductory part of an oration, treatise, etc.
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of exordium
1525–35; < Latin exōrdium, equivalent to ex- ex- 1 + ōrd ( īrī ) to begin + -ium -ium
Vocabulary lists containing exordium
Rhetoric
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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.
Their invitation Dr. Fosdick expressed in a great exordium: The great east window of Chicago's Fourth Presbyterian Church has long needed proper furbishing in stained glass.
From Time Magazine Archive
I trembled violently at his exordium, and my father continued—
From "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley
The purpose of the exordium is to put the audience into a receptive and attentive frame of mind.
From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith
The chancellor paused--one white hand upon his hip--to mark the effect of his exordium.
From My Lords of Strogue, Vol. II (of III) A Chronicle of Ireland, from the Convention to the Union by Wingfield, Lewis
Having delivered this exordium, Wasson frankly confessed that the tribes which he represented were all justly chargeable with the war, and now deeply regretted their delinquency.
From The Conspiracy of Pontiac and the Indian War after the Conquest of Canada by Parkman, Francis
Definitions 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.
