prel·ude / ˈprelˌ(y)oōd; ˈprāˌl(y)oōd/ • n. 1. an action or event serving as an introduction to something more important: education cannot simply be a prelude to a career.2. an introductory piece of music, most commonly an orchestral opening to an act of an opera, the first movement of a suite, or a piece preceding a fugue. ∎  a short piece of music of a similar style, esp. for the piano. ∎  the introductory part of a poem or other literary work.• v. [tr.] serve as a prelude or introduction to: the bombardment preluded an all-out final attack.DERIVATIVES: pre·lu·di·al / priˈloōdēəl; prā-/ adj.

prelude In music, a preliminary movement that serves to introduce a work of which it may or may not formally be a part. It was often used as the first movement of a suite. The popularity of Chopin's piano preludes led to its associations with a short piece of an imaginative nature.

prelude introductory action, condition, etc. XVI; (mus.) XVII. — F. prélude or medL. prælūdium, f. prælūdere play beforehand, preface, f. præ- PRE- + lūdere play.
So vb. XVII. — L.

prelude. A piece of mus. which precedes something else, e.g. preceding a fugue; forming 1st movt. of a suite; orch. introduction to opera. Also a self-contained short piece for pf., as those by Chopin, Rachmaninov, Debussy, etc.