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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.
Examples of prologue in a Sentence
Gary Franks, Hartford Courant, 26 Apr. 2025
But that’s not the case, and as the opening prologue showcases, the Irish have their own form of griots, the filidh, poets, and oral history keepers who were successors to the druids.
—Richard Newby, HollywoodReporter, 22 Apr. 2025
That was mere prologue to her long-running lead roles on UPN’s One on One (2001–2006) and The Proud Family (2001–2005) as the voice of Penny.
—EW.com, 21 Apr. 2025
Lanchester plays two roles in the film, as Shelley in the film’s prologue and The Bride in the film’s climactic final scene.
—Tim Lammers, Forbes.com, 19 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for prologue
Cite this Entry
“Prologue.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prologue. Accessed 5 May. 2025.
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prologue
noun
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