Definition of "prologue" []

• An introduction or preface, especially a poem recited to introduce a play. (noun)
• An introduction or introductory chapter, as to a novel. (noun)
• An introductory act, event, or period. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Here is the result: Langbaine calls attention to the prologue in question as an _excellent prologue_, and"
• "Lully, at the close of a bad prologue said, the word _fin du prologue_ was an _erratum_, it should have been _fi du prologue_!"
• "If your prologue is the length of a chapter, step back and ask yourself why."