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Definition of "prolusion" [pro•lu•sion]

  • A preliminary exercise. (noun)
  • An essay written as a preface to a more detailed work. (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.

Use "prolusion" in a sentence
  • "On the other hand, what cackling and strutting must we not often hear and see, when, in some shape of academical prolusion, maiden speech, review article, this or the other well-fledged goose has produced its goose-egg, of quite measurable value, were it the pink of its whole kind; and wonders why all mortals do not wonder!"
  • "It was, after all, only the easiest part of the task that he had set before him, only a prolusion to the tragedy that he would have to play to a finish."
  • "The "State of Innocence," as it could not be designed for the stage, seems to have been originally intended as a mere poetical prolusion; for"