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preamble

UK/ˈpɹiːˌambəl/US/ˈpriˌæmb(ə)l/
nounC1Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #11,877 of 15,258leans written

A preamble is an opening statement that leads into the main text. Without preamble, a lengthy preamble, the preamble to the constitution.

The constitutional kind states the purpose of what follows and is quoted more than the articles it introduces. Without preamble is the fixed phrase and means somebody got straight to the point.

Definitions of preamble

  1. 1nounpreambleAn opening statement that leads into the main text.C1

    “After a long preamble about the company's history, the manager finally announced the job cuts.”

preamble is an introduction.

Where it comes from

Medieval Latin praeambulum means walking before, from prae, before, plus ambulare, to walk.

  1. Medieval Latin

    praeambulum

  2. Old French

    preambule

  3. Middle English

    preamble

  4. English, today

    preamble

Built from

  • praeambulō · Latin — to walk before

From Middle English preamble, from Old French preambule (French préambule), from Medieval Latin praeambulum, from praeambulō (“to walk before”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

preamble in the wild

  • However, preambles are not required to be placed in resolutions.

    Preamble

  • The preamble was mainly written by Gouverneur Morris, a Pennsylvania delegate to the 1787 Constitutional Convention held at Independence Hall in Philadelphia.

    Preamble to the United States Constitution

  • The second question, generally deemed to be far less important politically, asked whether Australia should alter the Constitution to insert a preamble.

    1999 Australian republic referendum

  • The Argentine Constitution consists of a preamble and two normative parts: Preamble First part: Declarations, Rights and Guarantees Second part: Authorities of the Nation.

    Constitution of Argentina

  • The Preamble to the United Nations Charter is the opening (preamble) of the 1945 United Nations Charter.

    Preamble to the United Nations Charter

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.