prélude
French, noun
prélude is spelled P-R-É-L-U-D-E (7 letters) and appears 2.4 times per million words in written French, the 18,424th most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Prélude is a French masculine noun meaning “prelude” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is also a first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive of préluder. With an accent, préludé is a different word: “past participle of préluder”. The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Ce qui précède quelque chose et qui lui sert comme d’entrée et de préparation”.
What does prélude mean in English?
noun
- 1
masculineprelude
verb
- 1
first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
- 2
second-person singular imperative
verb
- 1
past participle of préluder
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
noun: 1. Ce qui précède quelque chose et qui lui sert comme d’entrée et de préparation. 2. Ce qu’on improvise sur un instrument pour se mettre dans le ton. 3. Certaines compositions musicales qui forment le début d’une œuvre. 4. Pièces qui constituent à elles seules un tout.
The definition in the French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), in French.
Source: French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of prélude
- préludes plural
- préludée feminine
- préludés masculine plural
- préludées feminine plural
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to prélude
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is prélude in French?
prélude appears 2.4 times per million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).