prelude

Meanings

Plural: preludes

Noun

• something that serves as a preceding event or introduces what follows
• music that precedes a fugue or introduces an act in an opera
• An introductory or preliminary performance or event.
• A short, free-form piece of music, originally one serving as an introduction to a longer and more complex piece; later, starting with the Romantic period, generally a stand-alone piece.
• A standard module or library of subroutines and functions to be imported, generally by default, into a program.
• A forerunner to anything.

Verb

• serve as a prelude or opening to
• play as a prelude
• To introduce something, as a prelude.
• To play an introduction or prelude; to give a prefatory performance.

Synonyms

forestory, intrada, overture, preface, preliminary