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prolegomenon
Aug. 11th, 2010 07:30 amprolegomenon (proh-li-GOM-uh-non) - n., an introduction, prefatory remark, esp. a formal essay that introduces and interprets the work that follows.
It seems I've been mispronouncing this all along -- I thought the stress went on the fourth syllable. Ah, well. First borrowed in 1652 in the sense of the learned preamble to a book from Greek, where it is the neuter passive present participle of prolegein, to say beforehand, from pro-, before + legein, to speak (the root of lecture). Preface is the exact same meaning from Latin roots.
---L.
It seems I've been mispronouncing this all along -- I thought the stress went on the fourth syllable. Ah, well. First borrowed in 1652 in the sense of the learned preamble to a book from Greek, where it is the neuter passive present participle of prolegein, to say beforehand, from pro-, before + legein, to speak (the root of lecture). Preface is the exact same meaning from Latin roots.
---L.
