πρόλογος

Forms

πρόλογος (prólogos) m (genitive προλόγου); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Ancient Greek προ- (pro-, “before”) + λόγος (lógos, “speech”),^[1][2] that is, “a speech made beforehand”.^[2] Babiniotis derives it from the o-grade of the stem of προλέγω (prolégō, “to say beforehand”), the same relation as between the simple noun and λέγω (légō, “to say”).^[3][4]

It was borrowed as Latin prologus,^[5] the source, partly through Old French prologue, of the English word prologue.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Aristophanes' Frogs, of the opening speeches of tragedies, the narrative monologues that set out the facts before the main action.^[6][7][3][8]

Semantic evolution

Aristotle uses it as a technical term of the theatre: in the Poetics the prologue is the whole part of a tragedy before the entry of the chorus, and the Rhetoric also discusses it.^[6][7][8] Πάπυρος notes that from Euripides on the prologue was typically a monologue telling the background of the plot.^[4] The word was later used of the actor who speaks the prologue (Lucian), of the introduction of a speech (Libanius), and in arithmetic of the first, larger term of a ratio, set against ὑπόλογος (hupólogos).^[6]

Medieval vernacular Greek kept it for the opening monologue of a play and for the short introduction of a text or speech, also in the form εμπρόλογος (emprólogos).^[9] Modern Greek uses it as a learned word for the preface of a book or speech and the prologue of ancient drama.^[10][4] Through Latin it reached English as prologue in the early 14th century.^[2]

Timeline

• 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes, in the Frogs, uses it for the opening speech of a tragedy.^{[6][7][3][11]}
• 4th century BC – Aristotle's Poetics defines it as the part of a tragedy before the chorus enters.^[6][7][11]
• 1st–2nd century AD – Nicomachus uses it in arithmetic for the larger first term of a ratio.^[6][11]
• 2nd century AD – Lucian uses it for the actor who speaks the prologue.^[6][11]
• 4th century AD – Libanius uses it for the introduction of a speech.^[6][11]
• 1100–1669 – Vernacular Greek uses it for the opening monologue of a play and the introduction of a text.^[9]
• Early 14th century – English borrows prologue, through Old French and Latin.^[2]
• Modern Greek – The learned word πρόλογος (prólogos) means the preface of a text or speech.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. The prologue of a play: the part before the entry of the chorus, especially the opening monologue that tells the facts leading up to the action.^[6][7]
2. The actor who speaks the prologue.^[6][12]
3. The introduction of a speech.^[6]
4. (arithmetic) The antecedent of a ratio in which the first number is the larger.^[6][12]

Related words

• προλέγω (prolégō)
• ἐπίλογος (epílogos)
• Latin prologus
• English prologue

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
4. ^ a b c Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
5. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
8. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
9. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
10. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
11. ^ a b c d e Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
12. ^ a b Korinthios, J. (2025), Grande Dizionario Greco Classico: Greco–Italiano, digital ed., Milan: Hoepli