Meaning of “preface” in the English Dictionary

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"preface" in English

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prefacenoun [ C ]

uk ​ /ˈpref.ɪs/ us ​ /ˈpref.ɪs/

› an introduction at the beginning of a book explaining its purpose, thanking people who helped the author, etc.:

In his preface, the author says that he took eight years to write the book.
a preface to sth

› an event that comes before something more important:

We're hoping these talks could be a preface to peace.

Thesaurus: synonyms and related words

prefaceverb [ T ]

uk ​ /ˈpref.ɪs/ us ​ /ˈpref.ɪs/ formal

(Definition of “preface” from the Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

"preface" in American English

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prefacenoun [ C ]

us ​ /ˈpref·əs/

› literature something that comes before and introduces a more important thing, esp. an introduction at the beginning of a book that explains its aims:

an author’s preface
preface
verb [ T ] us ​ /ˈpref·əs/

›

He didn’t preface the bad news with "I don’t know how to tell you this, but."

(Definition of “preface” from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

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