prelude
/ˈpɹeɪl(j)uːd/noun, verb
prelude is spelled P-R-E-L-U-D-E: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 2.0 times per million words in written English, the 19,589th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, prelude means “An introductory or preliminary performance or event” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of prelude is preludes.
How many letters and syllables are in prelude?
| Letters | 7: P-R-E-L-U-D-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.0 times per million words; the 19,589th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is prelude?
Prelude appears 2.0 times per million words in written English, the 19,589th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce prelude?
- UK /ˈpɹɛljuːd/
- UK /ˈpɹiːluːd/
- US /ˈpɹeɪl(j)uːd/
Prelude has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-prelude.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of prelude
- preludes plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- prælude
- preluding participle, present
- preluded participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does prelude mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An introductory or preliminary performance or event.
- 2
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.
- 3
A standard module or library of subroutines and functions to be imported, generally by default, into a program.
- 4
A forerunner to anything.
verb
- 1
To introduce something, as a prelude.
- 2
To play an introduction or prelude; to give a prefatory performance.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Prelude in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does prelude come from?
From Middle French prélude (“singing to test a musical instrument”), from Medieval Latin preludium, from Latin praelūdere.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).