preface

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English preface, also spelled prefas,^[2] borrowed from Old French preface,^{[3][4][5][6][2]} and directly borrowed from Medieval Latin prefatia,^[4][5][7][8] an alteration of praefātiō (“a saying beforehand, introduction”).^[7][8][9][3] The Anglo-Norman noun is recorded from about 1334 for the introductory invocation to God before the central part of the Mass,^[10] and Old French had it as prefaice in the 12th century.^[3] The Latin noun is formed from praefātus, the past participle of praefor (“to say beforehand”),^[11][12][4] from prae- (“before”) and for (“to speak”),^[11][4][13] which Etymonline traces to Proto-Indo-European *bha- (“to speak, tell, say”).^[4] The verb, first recorded in 1603, is formed from the noun.^[3][9][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The introduction to the central part of the Eucharist, an offering of thanksgiving and praise to God: about 1380, in Chaucer's Second Nun's Tale,^[3][5] his only use of the word.^[14]

Semantic evolution

The liturgical sense came first, and the literary one, the introduction to a book stating its subject and purpose, follows in 1484 in Caxton's translation of Aesop;^[3] Hoad dates the literary sense to the 14th century and the liturgical one to the 15th.^[6] From 1532 the word was used of the opening part of a speech; since 1589 it has also been used figuratively of any event or action that comes before another.^[3] In Scotland a preface was a short paraphrase of or comment on a psalm before it was sung in church, recorded from before 1709 to 1869,^[3][7][15] and the verb had the matching sense "to preach by way of introduction".^[3][7] Johnson (1755) defined the noun as something spoken as an introduction to the main design.^[16] The verb was first used in 1603 both of introducing a text with a preface and of heralding an event;^[3] Barnhart dates it to 1616, and the sense of introducing a book or speech with a preface to 1691.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1380 – introduction to the canon of the Mass, in Chaucer.^[3][5]
• 1484 – introduction to a literary work, in Caxton.^[3]
• 1532 – introductory part of a speech.^[3]
• 1582 – a title or epithet (obsolete by 1640).^[3]
• 1589 – figuratively, an event or action that comes before another.^[3]
• 1603 – verb, to introduce speech or writing with a preface; to herald.^[3][7]
• before 1709 – in Scotland, a comment on a psalm before it is sung.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. An author's introduction to a book, usually explaining its subject, purpose and scope; a foreword: The translator explains her choices in the preface.^[17][7][3]
2. The opening remarks of a speech; anything introductory.^[7][17][3]
3. Something that comes before and leads up to an event or action: The skirmish proved a preface to open war.^[7][3]
4. In Christian liturgy, a prayer of thanksgiving that introduces the canon of the Mass or central part of the Eucharist.^[7][17][3]
5. (obsolete) In Scotland, a short paraphrase of or comment on a psalm before it was sung in church.^[7][3]

Verb

1. To introduce a book, speech or remark with a preface or some opening words: He prefaced the report with a short apology.^[17][7][3]
2. To come before something and lead up to it; to herald.^[7][17][3]

Word family

• prefacer

Related words

• prefatory
• fable
• fate
• fame
• foreword

Usage notes

Ayto notes that the word has no connection with face, and that in its origin it is nearly the equivalent of the native formation foreword.^[13]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b 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 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
6. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
11. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
12. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
13. ^ a b Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
14. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
15. ^ 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)
16. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
17. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins