What does "postlude" mean?

The final part of a piece; especially music played (normally on the organ) at the end of a church service.

What is a synonym for "postlude"?

Common synonyms include: addendum, afterthought, appendix, back matter, chorus, coda.

//ˈpəʊstluːd// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Noun

1
The final part of a piece; especially music played (normally on the organ) at the end of a church service.
"In the Sibelian world of song, then, postludes would inevitably sound redundant or extraneous."
2
a voluntary played at the end of a religious service wordnet
3
A concluding passage of text or speech; an epilogue or afterword.
"This was Nabokov’s postlude to Lolita, where he relates the book’s genesis."

Verb

1
To form a postlude (to); to end with a postlude. rare
"Mercifully never preceded by a drum-roll or postluded by a curtsey for applause, each poem seemed to arise from the surrounding prose, which Courtenay was successfully endeavouring to make sound as if it was being thought up on the spot."

"In the Sibelian world of song, then, postludes would inevitably sound redundant or extraneous."

From post- + Latin lūdus (“play”) (modelled on prelude).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.