prologue

English · Español · Français · Thesaurus

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

prologue

/ˈpɹəʊlɒɡ/ UK
/ˈpɹoʊlɔɡ/ US
/ˈpɹoʊlɑɡ/ US
/ˈpɹoʊloʊɡ/ obsolete

Where it comes from

From Middle English prologue, prologe, from Old French prologue, from Latin prologus, from Ancient Greek πρόλογος (prólogos). Equivalent to pro- + -logue.

noun prologues · prolog

rhetoric 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
Similar: forespeech, foretale, foretalk, foreword · Opposite: epilogue, afterword, conclusion, endsay, endspeech, postamble
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.

Opposite: epilogue, epilog

verb prologues · prologuing · prologued · prolog

rhetoric To introduce with a formal preface, or prologue. […]harbindgers preceading ſtill the fates and prologue to the Omen comming on[…]

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: foreword, preface, prelude, to, overture, preamble, introduction, curtain-raiser, lead-in, introit, outset, opening, proem, exordium, front matter, kickoff

noun

Opposite: epilogue, epilog

Translations

Every language

noun speech or section used as an introduction, especially to a play or novel

Español	prólogo
日本語	プロローグ purorōgu, 序幕 jomaku, 序章 joshō
中文	序幕 xùmù
हिन्दी	प्रस्तावना prastāvnā
Português	prólogo
Français	prologue
Deutsch	Prolog
Русский	проло́г prológ, предисло́вие predislóvije
עברית	פרולוג

Talk about this word

Cite this

MLA

"prologue." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/prologue. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

prologue. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/prologue

Chicago

"prologue." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/prologue.

BibTeX

@misc{prologue_2026,
  title = {prologue},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/prologue},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}