prelude

Word family

Related topics: Music

prel·ude /ˈpreljuːd/ noun [countableC]

1 a prelude to something BEFOREif an event is a prelude to a more important event, it happens just before it and makes people expect it 某事物的序幕[前奏，开端]

Living together as a prelude to marriage is now considered acceptable in many countries.

婚前同居如今在许多国家都已被接受。

Examples from the Corpus

a prelude to something• Morley denied that they were intended as a prelude to parliamentary government.• Computer simulations are only mechanical extensions of this verbal power, which manipulates signs and symbols as a prelude to manipulating things.• These contacts could be a prelude to an event that would be much more attention-grabbing.• Could this be a prelude to a trade war even more destructive of world prosperity than a military war?• Even this one-day proceeding is merely a prelude to the real case.• The search for the seat of divinity in man and nature is only a prelude to the aspiration for transcendence.• Your notes should be the product of historical thought and not simply a prelude to it.• This outing was a prelude to many more.

2 APMa short piece of music, especially one played at the beginning of a longer musical piece or before a church ceremony 〔音乐作品的〕前奏曲，序曲

Chopin’s Preludes

肖邦的前奏曲

an organ prelude

管风琴前奏曲

Examples from the Corpus

prelude• This identification was emphasized in 1483 when Gloucester took the precaution of arresting lord Stanley as a prelude to his usurpation.• Computer simulations are only mechanical extensions of this verbal power, which manipulates signs and symbols as a prelude to manipulating things.• Could this be a prelude to a trade war even more destructive of world prosperity than a military war?• The search for the seat of divinity in man and nature is only a prelude to the aspiration for transcendence.• This outing was a prelude to many more.• The squall was a prelude to a fully-fledged gale, heralded well in advance by warnings from the meteorologists.• Also, it is considered by many as an anachronism, mere prelude to a party on the river for Hooray Henrys.

Origin prelude

(1500-1600) French prélude, from Medieval Latin praeludium, from Latin praeludere “to play before”

Chinese

Syllable

Corpus