Definition of Preface

1. Noun. A short introductory essay preceding the text of a book.

Exact synonyms: Foreword, Prolusion
Group relationships: Text, Textual Matter
Generic synonyms: Introduction
Derivative terms: Prefatorial

2. Verb. Furnish with a preface or introduction. "He prefaced his lecture with a critical remark about the institution"
Exact synonyms: Introduce, Precede, Premise
Specialized synonyms: Preamble, Prologise, Prologize, Prologuize
Generic synonyms: Say, State, Tell
Derivative terms: Introductory, Introductory

Definition of Preface

1. n. Something spoken as introductory to a discourse, or written as introductory to a book or essay; a proem; an introduction, or series of preliminary remarks.

2. v. t. To introduce by a preface; to give a preface to; as, to preface a book discourse.

3. v. i. To make a preface.

Definition of Preface

1. Noun. The part of the liturgy that precedes the main part of the Eucharist ¹

2. Noun. The beginning or introductory portion that comes before the main text of a document or book. ¹

3. Verb. (transitive) To introduce or make a comment before the main point. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Preface

1. to provide with an introductory statement [v -ACED, -ACING, -ACES]

Lexicographical Neighbors of Preface

preexpose
preexposed
preexposes
preexposing
preexposure
prefab
prefabbed
prefabbing
prefabricate
prefabricated
prefabricates
prefabricating
prefabrication
prefabrications
prefabs
preface (current term)
prefaced
prefaceless
prefacer
prefacers
prefaces
prefacing
prefactor
prefactors
prefade
prefaded
prefades
prefading
prefard
prefascist

Literary usage of Preface

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Animal Farm: A Fairy Story by George Orwell (1996)
""Many of our friends were shot, and others spent a long time in prison or simply disappeared," Orwell recalled in his preface to a 1947 Ukrainian-language ..."

2. The Works of Francis Bacon by John Thomas Scharf, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Francis Bacon, James Spedding, Robert Leslie Ellis, Douglas Denon Heath, William Rawley (1876)
"preface то HISTORIA VENTORUM BY ROBERT LESLIE ELLIS. ... Under me title of each, except the last, is placed an aditus or preface—that of the Historia ..."

3. An Inland Voyage and Travels with a Donkey by Robert Louis Stevenson, Gilbert Sykes Blakely (1911)
"preface TO FIRST EDITION To equip so small a book with a preface is, ... But a preface is more than an author can resist, for it is the reward of his ..."

4. The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare, Felix Emmanuel Schelling (1903)
"preface BY THE GENERAL EDITOR THIS series of books aims, first, to give the English texts required for entrance to college in a form which shall make them ..."

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