prequel

Etymology

It is formed from English pre- + sequel,^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]} or, as the OED and Merriam-Webster analyse it, from pre- and the ending “-quel” of that noun.^[8][9][10] Hendrickson notes that several authors have claimed to have coined it, without sufficient proof.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

A book, film or similar work telling of events before those of an existing work: 1922, in an advertisement in Publishers' Weekly.^[8]

Semantic evolution

The 1989 edition of the OED, Etymonline and Hendrickson dated it to 1973,^[12][7][11] Dictionary.com to 1970–75, Merriam-Webster's Collegiate to 1972 and Merriam-Webster Unabridged to 1958;^[3][13][9] Word Origins says that sequel inspired it in the 1950s,^[14] and the current OED has a record from 1922.^[8] Hendrickson observes that the word has been used more every year since the 1970s.^[11] The American Heritage Dictionary also records a broader sense, a work that leads up to a later one.^[15]

Timeline

• 1922 – a work telling of events before those of an existing work.^[8] The 1989 edition of the OED and Etymonline dated the word to 1973, and Merriam-Webster to 1958.^[12][7][9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A novel, film or play whose story takes place before that of an existing work: The studio announced a prequel set twenty years before the first film.^{[4][9][8][15]}
2. A work that comes before and leads up to a later one.^[15]

Related words

• sequel

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
3. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
4. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
5. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c d e Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
10. ^ Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
11. ^ a b c Hendrickson, Robert (2008), The Facts on File Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins, 4th ed., New York: Facts on File
12. ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
13. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
14. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
15. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin