preamble
/priːˈamb(ə)l
/ /ˈpriːamb(ə)l/noun
1A preliminary or preparatory statement; an introduction: he could tell that what she said was by way of a preamble [mass noun]: I gave him the bad news without preamble...
- They shouldn't be for decoration either - these values - they're not just a preamble to the policy statements.
- This is unexpected because the reader is lured into devastating news by a long preamble that seems absorbed with French manners, salon gossip and where to find a good chef.
- Without preamble, she offered both of us some.
1.1 Law The introductory part of a statute or deed, stating its purpose, aims, and justification.The Borrower undertakes with the Lender to use each Advance for the purposes stated in the preamble to this Agreement....
- The relevant text of the preamble to Chapter 6 and of paragraph 6.2 should therefore be amended to read as follows.
- It is clear that the provisions of the preamble and of Article 1 of the charter which are claimed to be in conflict with the alien land law are not self-executing.
Synonyms
introduction, preliminary/preparatory/opening remarks, preliminary/preparatory/opening statement, preliminaries, preface, lead-in, overture, prologue;
foreword, prelude, front matter, forward matter
informal intro, prelims
rare proem, prolegomenon, exordium, prolusion, prodrome
Derivatives
preambular
- Thus, preambular paragraphs 4, 5 and 10 recall the authorisation to use force in resolution 678.
- Second, the joint draft resolution recalled in its very first preambular paragraph a selection of its previous resolutions.
- Like the UN Declaration, its preambular paragraphs recognize that violence against women is a manifestation of the historically unequal power relations between women and men.
Origin
Late Middle English: from Old French preambule, from medieval Latin praeambulum, from late Latin praeambulus 'going before'.