Meaning & use
prelude
An event or action that comes before and introduces or leads up to a more significant one.
See it in a sentence
The tense negotiations were only a prelude to the much larger trade dispute that followed.
The pianist opened the recital with a short prelude before the main sonata began.
A note on using this word
Prelude is used both for a short introductory piece of music and, more broadly, for any event that foreshadows a larger one.
Words with a similar meaning
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Words with an opposite meaning
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