preface

C2+ Topic:Literature & Storytelling

US /ˈprɛfəs/ UK /ˈprɛfəs/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
an introduction to a book; to introduce or precede with remarks

The author thanked her editor in the preface.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · an introduction to a book;... introductionforewordprologue preamble prelude introduce precede

Opposites

epilogueafterwordconclusion

Word family

Derived forms prefatoryprefacer

Related forms prefatory

Etymology

From Old French preface, from Latin praefatio ('a saying beforehand'), from praefari ('to say beforehand'), from prae- ('before') + fari ('to speak').

praefatio Latin fari Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Literature & Storytelling General Vocabulary

External links

# preface

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈprɛfəs/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈprɛfəs/

## Meanings
1. an introduction to a book; to introduce or precede with remarks

## Examples
- The author thanked her editor in the preface.

## Synonyms
- introduction
- foreword
- prologue
- preamble
- prelude
- introduce
- precede

## Antonyms
- epilogue
- afterword
- conclusion

## Derived Forms
- prefatory
- prefacer

## Related Forms
- prefatory

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: praefatio
- Root: fari

## Etymology
From Old French preface, from Latin praefatio ('a saying beforehand'), from praefari ('to say beforehand'), from prae- ('before') + fari ('to speak').

## AI Etymology
Preface is from Old French preface, from Latin praefatio ('a saying beforehand'), from praefari ('to say beforehand'), from prae- ('before') + fari ('to speak'). Important recorded forms include praefatio (Latin) and fari (Latin). Morphologically, the word preserves a built structure whose named elements carry the historical sense into English. The modern sense remains close to that composition, with the parts narrowing into a single lexical item. In current use it covers an introduction to a book; to introduce or precede with remarks. The wider family includes derived forms such as prefatory and prefacer and related words such as prefatory.

## Topics
- Literature & Storytelling
- General Vocabulary

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