PERMANENT SOURCE RECORD
ALL SOURCES ↗BIBLIOGRAPHIC IDENTITYetymonline-prologue
SOURCE
RECORD.
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9 PUBLIC LINKS INTO THE GRAPH.
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historical dictionaryetymonline-prologue
Prologue — Origin and history
- AUTHOR / EDITOR
- Douglas Harper
- YEAR
- 2026
- PUBLISHER
- Online Etymology Dictionary
- DOI
- Not recorded
- SOURCE TYPE
- historical dictionary
- EXTERNAL RECORD
- OPEN ORIGINAL ↗
011
CONTRARIAN TRUTH CLAIMS
RANKED REVEALS THAT CITE THIS SOURCE
RANK 167GRADE Asupports
A prologue is speech before.
Greek prologos combines pro- “before” with logos “speech or discourse.” The modern general introduction grows from that theatrical structure.
*leǵ-
*leǵ- → λέγω → λόγος → πρόλογος → prologus → prologue → prolog → prologue
Headword etymologyIndependently analyzes pro plus logos.
prologue dossier ↗truth record ↗85UNVEILING
021
SCHOLARLY DISAGREEMENT
DISPUTE POSITIONS THAT CITE THIS SOURCE
resolvedsupportsestablished
Does the -logue in prologue mean a field of study?
No. Greek prologos is pro- “before” plus logos “speech or discourse”: a speech beforehand. English -logy belongs to the same wider family but is not the component analyzed here.
Headword etymologyIndependently analyzes pro plus logos as speech beforehand.
035
CANONICAL RELATIONSHIP CLAIMS
EDGES THAT CITE THIS SOURCE
EDGE 440supportsestablished
prologue → prolog
Present-Day English → Middle English · historical continuation
- SOUND
- Middle English prolog develops the modern -ue spelling while retaining the initial pro- and final log sequence.
- MEANING
- The prefatory speech becomes any introductory section and later any preceding event.
- SCHOLAR / EDITOR
- Merriam-Webster · Etymonline editors
Headword chronology and semantic developmentDates English prologe to the early fourteenth century and the figurative extension to the 1590s.
EDGE 442supportsestablished
prologue → prologus
Anglo-French → Latin · borrowing
- SOUND
- Anglo-French prologue continues Latin prologus through Romance transmission.
- MEANING
- The introductory speech or preface remains central.
- SCHOLAR / EDITOR
- Merriam-Webster · Etymonline editors
Headword etymology: Old French and LatinIndependently documents the Romance and Latin route.
EDGE 443supportsestablished
prologus → πρόλογος
Latin → Ancient Greek · borrowing
- SOUND
- Latin prologus borrows and adapts Greek prologos.
- MEANING
- The Greek before-speech becomes a Latin theatrical and literary preface.
- SCHOLAR / EDITOR
- Merriam-Webster · Etymonline editors
Headword etymology: Latin from Greek prologosIndependently documents the Greek borrowing.
EDGE 444supportsestablished
πρόλογος → λόγος
Ancient Greek → Ancient Greek · compound component
- SOUND
- Greek prologos combines pro- “before” with logos “speech or discourse”; this path follows the logos component.
- MEANING
- A speech positioned before a performance becomes the prologue.
- SCHOLAR / EDITOR
- Merriam-Webster · Etymonline editors
Headword etymology: pro plus logosIndependently analyzes prologos as speech beforehand.
EDGE 459supportsestablished
πρόλογος → πρό-
Ancient Greek → Ancient Greek · compound component
- SOUND
- The bound pro- component remains visible inside prologos; no independent sound change is asserted.
- MEANING
- Before positions the speech or discourse ahead of the main performance.
- SCHOLAR / EDITOR
- Merriam-Webster · Etymonline editors
Headword etymology: pro “before”Independently identifies the first component.
040
LEXICAL ATTESTATIONS
WITNESSES REPORTED BY THIS SOURCE
No lexical witness currently cites this source.
051
COMPARATIVE EVIDENCE
COGNATES, DESCENDANTS, AND RELATIVES
epilogue
Englishopposite-positioned logos compound
061
GEOGRAPHIC AND TEMPORAL CLAIMS
JOURNEY STAGES THAT CITE THIS SOURCE
stage 2supports
Ancient Greek theatre
Independently documents the Greek theatrical formation.
Headword etymology · broad070
NON-GENEALOGICAL CONNECTIONS
HISTORICAL CONTEXT, KEPT SEPARATE
No non-genealogical context link currently cites this source.
081
WORD-FAMILY REUSE
DOSSIERS THAT DEPEND ON THIS SOURCE
4 entry-scoped citations map reviewed dossier paths onto the canonical claims above.