preamble

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English preamble, also preambel and preambul,^[2] borrowed from Middle French preambule, also préamble,^[3] recorded from 1314 in Old French,^[3] and partly directly borrowed from Medieval Latin praeambulum (“preliminary statement, preface”),^[4][5][2] which is recorded from the late 12th century in British sources.^[3] This is the noun use of the neuter of Late Latin praeambulus (“walking before”),^[6][7][8] from praeambulō (“to walk before”),^[9][10] formed from prae- (“before”) and ambulō (“to walk”),^[4][10] the source of amble.^[5][10] Compare Catalan preàmbul, Spanish preámbulo, Portuguese preâmbulo and Italian preambolo.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A preliminary statement: about 1395, in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, "This is a long preamble of a tale".^[3][2][5]

Semantic evolution

The word's literal picture of walking in front was gone before it reached English, where it meant a prologue or introduction.^[4][2] From 1548 it could be any fact or circumstance that comes before and foreshadows something,^[3] a use Johnson (1755) illustrates with "preambles of ruin" from Wotton.^[11] The legal sense of the opening section of a statute, deed or treaty, setting out its grounds and purpose, is recorded from 1579,^[3] while its extended use for music and birdsong begins in 1611.^[3][9] A verb from the noun, to state in a preamble, followed in 1566.^[3] In the dialects of Worcestershire, Surrey, Hampshire and Wiltshire it came to mean a long, rambling story, and in Surrey to make a long priamble was to raise difficulties.^[12]

Timeline

• c. 1395 – a preliminary statement, prologue or introduction.^[3][2][5]
• 1402 – verb, to walk in front.^[3]
• 1548 – a preceding fact or circumstance that foreshadows what follows.^[3]
• 1566 – verb, to state in a preamble.^[3]
• 1579 – in law, the introductory section of a document.^[3]
• 1611 – extended to music and birdsong.^[3]
• 1628 – verb, to preface.^[3]
• 1664 – verb, to make an introductory statement, in Pepys.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. An introductory statement or part of a speech or text; a preface: She started without any preamble.^[13][7][3]
2. (law) The opening part of a statute, constitution or other formal document, giving its reasons and purpose.^{[13][7][3][4]}
3. An event or fact that comes first and leads up to something else; a preliminary.^{[13][7][3][9]}
4. A prelude in music or birdsong.^[3][9]

Verb

1. To make an introductory statement.^[7][3][9]
2. To put an introduction or preliminary before something.^[3][9]
3. (obsolete) To walk in front.^[3][9]

Word family

• preambulary
• preambled

Related words

• amble
• ambulate
• preambulate
• perambulate

Usage notes

The OED treats the verb "to walk before" (1402, and in 1647 "to walk along beforehand") separately, as a borrowing of Late Latin praeambulō, while the later verbs are conversions of the noun.^[3] The Shorter Oxford agrees, under a single verb entry.^[9]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
7. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b c d e f g h Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
12. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
13. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins