That which is begun; a rudiment or element.
The act of doing that which begins anything; commencement of an action, state, or space of time; entrance into being or upon a course; the first act, effort, or state of a succession of acts or states.
The initial portion of some extended thing.
That which begins or originates something; the source or first cause.
Of or relating to the first portion of some extended thing.
An introductory or preliminary performance or event.
A forerunner to anything.
A standard module or library of subroutines and functions to be imported, generally by default, into a program.
A short, free-form piece of music, originally one serving as an introduction to a longer and more complex piece; later, starting with the Romantic period, generally a stand-alone piece.
To play an introduction or prelude; to give a prefatory performance.
To introduce something, as a prelude.