noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
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"Holonyms: front matter, prelims"
"This superficial tale / Is but a preface of her worthy praise."
"Meronyms: protocol, embolism, eschatocol"
"[…] a black-tie dinner to celebrate on the eve of the ceremony which would remove the preface "Sir" from his name and replace it with the preface "Lord," thought by some to be one of the most potent words in the English language."
"Let me preface this by saying that I don't know him that well."
"to preface a book"
"This dictionary has a preface, not a foreword."
A beginning or introductory portion that comes before the main text of a document or book, typically serving to contextualize or explain the writing of the book and sometimes to acknowledge others' contributions; especially, such a discussion written by the work's own author.
Common synonyms include: foreword, acknowledgment, acknowledgments, agnus dei, alleluia, anteriority.
This dictionary has a preface, not a foreword.
Pronounced /ˈpɹɛfəs/.
Late 14th century, from Middle English preface, prefas, from Old French preface (from which derives the modern French préface), from Medieval Latin prefātia, for classical Latin praefātiō (“a saying beforehand”), from praefor (“to speak beforehand”), from prae- (“beforehand”) + for (“to speak”).