exordium
Americannoun
plural
exordiums, exordia-
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
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!
Additional Glossary Terms
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!
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.
"Exordium," repeated the curate, for the sake of saying something.
From The Three Musketeers by Dumas père, Alexandre
That Lucretian Exordium he must have written in one of his happiest veins—under the sting of the poetical œstrum.
From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 57, No. 354, April 1845 by Various
He urged his Request, by saying, that a Preface was no less essential to a Book, than an Exordium to a Sermon.
From The Amours of Zeokinizul, King of the Kofirans Translated from the Arabic of the famous Traveller Krinelbol by Crébillon, Claude Prosper Jolyot de
Nearly every good speech, from Demosthenes down, has consisted of the following parts in the following order: Exordium, or Introduction.
From Practical English Composition: Book II. For the Second Year of the High School by Miller, Edwin L.
Exordium, egz-or′di-um, n. the introductory part of a discourse or composition.—adj.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M) by Various
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.
