prelude

英 [ˈpreljuːd]

美 [ˈpreljuːd]

n. 序曲; 前奏曲; 序幕; 前奏; 先声
v. 为…作序; 开头; 成为…的序曲; 演奏序曲; 唱开场戏

复数：preludes　现在分词：preluding　过去式：preluded　第三人称单数：preludes　过去分词：preluded　

Collins.1 / BNC.9954 / COCA.11839

牛津词典

noun

序曲；前奏曲
a short piece of music, especially an introduction to a longer piece
序幕；前奏；先声
an action or event that happens before another more important one and forms an introduction to it

N-COUNT 前奏；序幕；开端
You can describe an event as aprelude toa more important event when it happens before it and acts as an introduction to it.
1. Most unions see privatisation as an inevitable prelude to job losses...
  大多数工会认为私有化会不可避免地导致失业。
2. The conference, which closed yesterday, was a prelude to a Communist Party Central Committee meeting.
  昨天结束的会议拉开了共产党中央委员会会议的序幕。
N-COUNT 序曲；前奏曲
Apreludeis a short piece of music for the piano or organ.
1. ...the famous E minor prelude of Chopin.
  肖邦著名的E小调前奏曲

noun

music that precedes a fugue or introduces an act in an opera
something that serves as a preceding event or introduces what follows
1. training is a necessary preliminary to employment
2. drinks were the overture to dinner
Synonym:preliminaryoverture

verb