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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
Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 31 Mar. 2025
Read on for an exclusive excerpt from the prologue of The Secret Book Society.
London, England
June 1895
Clara Chambers, the Countess of Duxbury, entered her drawing room and considered the urchin who’d demanded to be seen at once.
—Carly Tagen-Dye, People.com, 14 Mar. 2025
In a turning point already previewed in a prologue, Mickey’s 17th iteration crashes down an icy crevasse with the thermals and comms on his suit busted.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 15 Feb. 2025
If the past is prologue, the future will feature considerable instability.
—Hersh Shefrin, Forbes, 22 Mar. 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 13 Apr. 2025.
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prologue
noun
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