prologue
/ˈpɹoʊlɔɡ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.23 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A speech or section used as an introduction, especially to a play or novel.
noun
One who delivers a prologue.
noun
An individual time trial before a stage race, used to determine which rider wears the leader's jersey on the first stage.
noun
A liturgical book containing daily readings, including hagiography.
Example Sentences
- "“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 outside Wembley Park Station, came across three large parcels done up in American cloth. […]”"
- "And hither am I come, / A Prologue arm’d, but not in confidence / Of Authors pen, or Actors voyce;"
- "[…]harbindgers preceading ſtill the fates and prologue to the Omen comming on[…]"
Etymology
From Middle English prologue, prologe, from Old French prologue, from Latin prologus, from Ancient Greek πρόλογος (prólogos). Equivalent to pro- + -logue.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *per-, prologue, prologus, πρόλογος
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈpɹoʊlɔɡ/
- British English: /ˈpɹəʊlɒɡ/