Preface — meaning, pronunciation & more

Definition

a short introductory essay preceding the text of a book

furnish with a preface or introduction

Pronunciation

🇺🇸American English

/pɹˈɛfəs/

🇬🇧British English

/pɹˈɛfəs/

🇮🇳Indian English

/pɹˈɛfəs/

2 syllables Say it as /pɹˈɛfəs/.

Examples

She always precedes her lectures with a joke
He prefaced his lecture with a critical remark about the institution

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms

introduce prolusion premise precede foreword

Parts of Speech

noun	a short introductory essay preceding the text of a book
verb	furnish with a preface or introduction “She always precedes her lectures with a joke”

Word Forms

prefatorial	adjective	serving as an introduction or preface
preface	verb	furnish with a preface or introduction
preface	noun	a short introductory essay preceding the text of a book
introductory	adjective	serving as an introduction or preface

Around the World

Europe

🇩🇪German

Vorwort

ein kurzer einführender Essay, der dem Text eines Buches vorangeht

🇫🇷French

préface

un court essai d'introduction précédant le texte d'un livre

🇪🇸Spanish

prefacio

un breve ensayo introductorio que precede al texto de un libro

🇮🇹Italian

prefazione

un breve saggio introduttivo che precede il testo di un libro

🇳🇱Dutch

voorwoord

een kort inleidend essay dat voorafgaat aan de tekst van een boek

🇵🇹Portuguese

prefácio

um pequeno ensaio introdutório precedendo o texto de um livro

🇷🇺Russian

предисловие

небольшое вступительное эссе, предшествующее тексту книги

India

🇮🇳Hindi

प्रस्तावना

किसी पुस्तक के पाठ से पहले एक संक्षिप्त परिचयात्मक निबंध

🇧🇩Bengali

মুখবন্ধ

একটি বইয়ের পাঠ্যের পূর্বে একটি সংক্ষিপ্ত পরিচায়ক প্রবন্ধ

🇮🇳Tamil

முன்னுரை

ஒரு புத்தகத்தின் உரைக்கு முந்தைய ஒரு சிறிய அறிமுகக் கட்டுரை

🇮🇳Telugu

ముందుమాట

పుస్తకం యొక్క వచనానికి ముందు ఒక చిన్న పరిచయ వ్యాసం

🇮🇳Marathi

प्रस्तावना

पुस्तकाच्या मजकुरापूर्वीचा एक छोटा परिचयात्मक निबंध

🇮🇳Gujarati

પ્રસ્તાવના

પુસ્તકના લખાણની પહેલાનો ટૂંકો પરિચયાત્મક નિબંધ

🇮🇳Kannada

ಮುನ್ನುಡಿ

ಪುಸ್ತಕದ ಪಠ್ಯದ ಹಿಂದಿನ ಒಂದು ಸಣ್ಣ ಪರಿಚಯಾತ್ಮಕ ಪ್ರಬಂಧ

🇮🇳Malayalam

മുഖവുര

ഒരു പുസ്തകത്തിൻ്റെ വാചകത്തിന് മുമ്പുള്ള ഒരു ചെറിയ ആമുഖ ലേഖനം

🇮🇳Punjabi

ਪ੍ਰਸਤਾਵਨਾ

ਇੱਕ ਕਿਤਾਬ ਦੇ ਪਾਠ ਤੋਂ ਪਹਿਲਾਂ ਇੱਕ ਛੋਟਾ ਸ਼ੁਰੂਆਤੀ ਲੇਖ

🇵🇰Urdu

دیباچہ

کتاب کے متن سے پہلے ایک مختصر تعارفی مضمون

East & Southeast Asia

🇨🇳Chinese

前言

一本书正文之前的简短介绍性文章

🇯🇵Japanese

序文

本の本文に先立つ短い紹介エッセイ

🇰🇷Korean

머리말

책의 본문 앞에 나오는 짧은 소개 에세이

🇻🇳Vietnamese

lời nói đầu

một bài luận giới thiệu ngắn trước nội dung của một cuốn sách

🇹🇭Thai

คำนำ

เรียงความเบื้องต้นสั้น ๆ ที่อยู่หน้าข้อความของหนังสือ

🇮🇩Indonesian

kata pengantar

esai pengantar singkat sebelum teks buku

🇵🇭Filipino

paunang salita

isang maikling panimulang sanaysay bago ang teksto ng isang libro

🇲🇾Malay

mukadimah

karangan pengenalan pendek sebelum teks buku

Middle East

🇸🇦Arabic

مقدمة

مقالة تمهيدية قصيرة تسبق نص الكتاب

🇮🇷Persian

پیشگفتار

یک مقاله مقدماتی کوتاه قبل از متن یک کتاب

🇹🇷Turkish

önsöz

Bir kitabın metninden önce yazılan kısa bir giriş yazısı

🇮🇱Hebrew

הַקדָמָה

מאמר מבוא קצר לפני הטקסט של ספר

Test Yourself1 / 3

What is the primary definition of the word 'preface'?

The primary meaning of 'preface' is 'a short introductory essay preceding the text of a book'.

Which of the following sentences uses the word 'preface' in a grammatically correct way?

Using 'preface' in a noun/adjective form makes the first sentence correct.

In which domain is the word 'preface' most likely to appear as standard vocabulary?

'preface' is a standard word used primarily in general literature and formal communications.

Community Poll1 / 6

How often do you encounter the word 'preface' in your daily reading?

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Do you find 'preface' easy to spell?

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In your opinion, does the word 'preface' have a positive, neutral, or gloomy tone?

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