prologue

noun pro·logue \ ˈprō-ˌlȯg , -ˌläg \

variants: or less commonly prolog

Definition of prologue

1 :the preface or introduction to a literary work

2 a :a speech often in verse addressed to the audience by an actor at the beginning of a play

b :the actor speaking such a prologue

3 :an introductory or preceding event or development

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Examples of prologue in a Sentence

the prologue to his autobiography
unfortunately, the burglary, which he committed while still a teen, was but a prologue to a wasted life of crime

Recent Examples of prologue from the Web

When the animated film hit theaters in July 2016, a thirty-minute prologue was added to the story.

— jenna pearl, Marie Claire, "These Recent Superhero Moments Are So Sexist You Won't Believe They Were Made in the Last 5 Years," 22 Aug. 2017
Saturday Night Live‘s Kyle Mooney stars as James, established in the prologue as a young man who’s been raised in captivity but does not know it.

— gary thompson, Philly.com, "'Brigsby Bear': 'Saturday Night Live' actor's star turn is funny and quietly profound," 9 Aug. 2017
Macomber introduces readers in the prologue to the hard knocks of Shay’s life.

— jean marie brown, star-telegram, "Flawed characters find joy in ‘Any Dream Will Do’," 1 Aug. 2017
If past is prologue, drama from the health-care debate and new Russia revelations — reinforced by Trump tweets — will swamp the message.

— tory newmyer, Washington Post, "The Finance 202: 'Made in America' week belies weak manufacturing numbers," 17 July 2017
And, if past is prologue, Trump and his senior advisers won't answer any of them.

— chris cillizza, CNN, "The ever-changing Russia stories of the two Donald Trumps," 10 July 2017
Calipari has seemingly already answered that question in his long, illustrious career, but past is not always prologue.

— michael beller, SI.com, "Which players will emerge as Kentucky's top scorers?," 6 July 2017
And if past is prologue, the Navy will assess how human error on the part of either crew could have led to such a catastrophe, despite all of the radar and communication systems on board.

— dan lamothe, Washington Post, "When Navy ships collide, there is virtually always human error involved," 19 June 2017
But at least Trump’s victory allowed Americans to worry a bit less about the Syrian conflict becoming the prologue to a hot war between Moscow and Washington.

— eric levitz, Daily Intelligencer, "Russia Vows to Target U.S.-Backed Aircraft in Western Syria," 19 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'prologue.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

In ancient Greek drama, the prologos (a word that means basically "speaking before") was the opening portion of the play, before the entry of the all-important chorus. It might be spoken by a single actor, maybe playing a god, who would "set the scene" for the audience. Playwrights today instead often provide the same kind of "scene-setting" information through dialogue near the play's beginning; in movies, it may appear (as in the "Star Wars" series) in the form of actual written text. In a nonfiction book, the lead-in is now usually called a preface or introduction; novels rarely provide any introduction at all. Still, prologue remains a useful word for nonliterary purposes. The saying "The past is prologue" tells us that, in real life, almost everything can be a prologue to what follows it.

Origin and Etymology of prologue

Middle English prolog, from Anglo-French prologue, from Latin prologus preface to a play, from Greek prologos part of a Greek play preceding the entry of the chorus, from pro- before + legein to speak — more at pro-, legend

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First Known Use: 14th century

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