Other forms: preludes
A prelude is something that comes before and leads into the main event. A prelude to war, as a prelude, the prelude and fugue.
In music it is a short piece introducing a larger one, though Chopin and Debussy wrote preludes that introduce nothing at all — the form outgrew its name. Figuratively it means a preliminary event, and a prelude to war is the standard phrase. Note that the Latin means to play beforehand, from ludere, to play, which also gives ludicrous and illusion.
1nounpreludeSomething that comes before and leads into the main event.
“The small protests turned out to be a prelude to a full revolution.”
2nounshortA short piece of music introducing another.
“The orchestra opened the concert with the prelude to the opera.”
prelude is an introduction.
Medieval Latin praeludium is prae plus ludere, to play. Ludicrous, illusion and interlude come from the same playing.
Latin
praelūdere
Medieval Latin
preludium
Middle French
prélude — singing to test a musical instrument
English, today
prelude
From Middle French prélude (“singing to test a musical instrument”), from Medieval Latin preludium, from Latin praelūdere.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA
Practised in A Song of Ice and Fire