prolegomenon
nounUK /ˌpɹəʊlɪˈɡɒmɪnɒn/ · US /ˌpɹoʊlɪˈɡɑmənɑn/
Etymology From the Ancient Greek neuter noun: προλεγόμενον (prolegómenon, “that which is said beforehand,”) [plural: προλεγόμενα (prolegómena), from the verb: προλέγω (prolégō, “I say before[hand]”)] referring to an introduction.
1
A prefatory discussion; a formal essay or critical discussion serving to introduce and interpret an extended work.
- Frye here is not rewriting myth as some assume. Her prolegomenon is intended to be read as fiction not autobiography.1990 April 28, Patricia Roth Schwartz, “The Odd Couple”, in Gay Community News, page 7:
- This book is a critique of the order-maintenance approach to criminal justice, but it is also a prolegomenon to a new vision of punishment and criminal justice policy analysis.2001, Bernard E. Harcourt, Illusion of Order:
- Derived terms
- prolegomenary, prolegomenous