prelude
[noun]
Synonyms: introduction, beginning, foreword, overture, preamble, preface, prologue, start

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

prel‧ude /ˈpreljuːd/ noun [countable]
[Date: 1500-1600; Language: French; Origin: prélude, from Medieval Latin praeludium, from Latin praeludere 'to play before']

1. a prelude to something if an event is a prelude to a more important event, it happens just before it and makes people expect it:
Living together as a prelude to marriage is now considered acceptable in many countries.

2. a short piece of music, especially one played at the beginning of a longer musical piece or before a church ceremony:
Chopin’s Preludes
an organ prelude

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

prelude
noun
ADJ. essential, inevitable, necessary
VERB + PRELUDE consider sth, see sth as
PREP. as a ~ events held as a prelude to the Christmas festivities
~ for the prelude for the battles ahead
~ to He considered the strikes a prelude to the great socialist revolution.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲