Question

prologue The Boston Tea Party of 1773 turned out to be a prologue to the American Revolution. ˈproʊlɑg

Accepted Answer

(1) An introduction to a literary work. (2) An introductory event or development. In ancient Greek drama, the prologos (a word that means basically “speaking before”) was the opening portion of the play, before the entry of the all-important chorus. It might be spoken by a single actor, maybe playing a god, who would “set the scene” for the audience. Playwrights today instead often provide the same kind of “scene-setting” information through dialogue near the play's beginning; in movies, it may appear (as in the “Star Wars” series) in the form of actual written text. In a nonfiction book, the lead-in is now usually called a preface or introduction; novels rarely provide any introduction at all. Still, prologue remains a useful word for nonliterary purposes. The saying “The past is prologue” tells us that, in real life, almost everything can be a prologue to what follows it.

word	prologue
definition	(1) An introduction to a literary work. (2) An introductory event or development.
eg_sentence	The Boston Tea Party of 1773 turned out to be a prologue to the American Revolution.
explanation	In ancient Greek drama, the prologos (a word that means basically “speaking before”) was the opening portion of the play, before the entry of the all-important chorus. It might be spoken by a single actor, maybe playing a god, who would “set the scene” for the audience. Playwrights today instead often provide the same kind of “scene-setting” information through dialogue near the play's beginning; in movies, it may appear (as in the “Star Wars” series) in the form of actual written text. In a nonfiction book, the lead-in is now usually called a preface or introduction; novels rarely provide any introduction at all. Still, prologue remains a useful word for nonliterary purposes. The saying “The past is prologue” tells us that, in real life, almost everything can be a prologue to what follows it.
IPA	ˈproʊlɑg

Prologue Introduction Word Provide Literary Work Introductory Event