different between prologue vs postlude

English

Alternative forms

• prolog

Etymology

From Middle English prologue, prologe, from Old French prologue, from Latin prologus, from Ancient Greek ???????? (prólogos).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?p???l??/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?p?o?l??/, /?p?o?l??/

Noun

prologue (plural prologues)

1. A speech or section used as an introduction, especially to a play or novel.

   Synonyms: forespeech; see also Thesaurus:foreword

   Antonyms: epilogue; see also Thesaurus:afterword
2. One who delivers a prologue.
   • 1602, William Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida:

     And hither am I come, / A Prologue armed, but not in confidence / Of author's pen or actor's voice,

3. (computing) A component of a computer program that prepares the computer to execute a routine.
4. (cycling) An individual time trial before a stage race, used to determine which rider wears the leader's jersey on the first stage.

Derived terms

• prologuize

Translations

Verb

prologue (third-person singular simple present prologues, present participle prologuing, simple past and past participle prologued)

1. To introduce with a formal preface, or prologue.

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “prologue”, in Online Etymology Dictionary

French

Pronunciation

Noun

prologue m (plural prologues)

1. prologue

Spanish

Verb

prologue

1. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of prologar.
2. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of prologar.
3. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present subjunctive form of prologar.
4. Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of prologar.

English

Etymology

From post- +? Latin ludus (“play”) (modelled on prelude).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?p??stlu?d/

Noun

postlude (plural postludes)

1. (music) The final part of a piece; especially music played (normally on the organ) at the end of a church service.
2. A concluding passage of text or speech; an epilogue or afterword.

Translations

Verb

postlude (third-person singular simple present postludes, present participle postluding, simple past and past participle postluded)

1. (rare) To form a postlude (to); to end with a postlude.
   • 2003, Clive James, ‘Larkin Treads the Boards’, The Meaning of Recognition, Picador 2005, p. 95:

     Mercifully never preceded by a drum-roll or postluded by a curtsey for applause, each poem seemed to arise from the surrounding prose, which Courtenay was successfully endeavouring to make sound as if it was being thought up on the spot.

Further reading

• Postlude in the 1905 edition of the New International Encyclopedia.