Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use preface in a sentence

22 example sentences · noun, verb

Preface means a beginning or introductory portion that comes before the main text of a document or book, typically serving to contextualize or explain the writing of the book and sometimes to acknowledge others' contributions; especially, such a discussion written by the work's own author. Example: “The book included a brief preface explaining the author's motivations for writing.”

Examples of preface by meaning

nounA beginning or introductory portion that comes before the main text of a document or book, typically serving to...

  • The book included a brief preface explaining the author's motivations for writing.

verbTo introduce or make a comment before (the main point); to premise.

  • Let me preface this by saying that I don't know him that well.

verbTo give a preface to.

  • to preface a book

More sentences with preface

  • This book features a preface by a well-known botanist, and an introduction by the author's mentor at university.From the entry introduction
  • You could hear it prefaced by Doctor or followed by MP.2014, Elly Griffiths, Ruth Galloway: The Early Cases: A Dr Ruth Galloway Mysteries Collection, Hachette UK, →ISBN. From the entry kate
  • He prefaced his next song with a row of hard, multiphonic squawks, sounding like a truck horn.2009 January 22, Nate Chinen, “A Single Jazz Band, by Way of Two Trios”, in New York Times. From the entry multiphonic
  • In this sense, Nietzsche's preface in rhymes offers counterformulas to the ones we actually learned as toddlers.2000, Kathleen Marie Higgins, Comic Relief: Nietzsche's Gay Science, page 39. From the entry counterformula
  • In his preface, a scholar can practice two kinds of namesmanship.1957, The New Leader - Volume 40, Part 1, page 24. From the entry namesmanship
  • The preface contains a defense of the Illyrian language and a list of the major Slavic “dialects” (Russian, Polish, Bohemian, Illyrian).2016, Edward Stankiewicz, Grammars and Dictionaries of the Slavic Languages from the Middle Ages Up to 1850: An Annotated Bibliography…. From the entry Illyrian
  • We shared a few photos of our first home’s transformation in the preface, but sometimes before and afters can be dangerous.2012, Sherry Petersik, John Petersik, Young House Love: 243 Ways to Paint, Craft, Update & Show Your Home Some Love, New York, N.Y.…. From the entry before and after
  • It’s a cutely demolike preface to “Mirrorball,” which sets all the band’s gears back in motion, to delirious effect.2009 August 16, Nate Chinen, “Retro-Soul and Jazz, Fine, but Krautrock, Anyone?”, in New York Times. From the entry demolike
  • We know he made this trip in the preface of his narrative about the serraglio of the Turkish emperors.2007, Reisen in den Orient vom 13. bis zum 19. Jahrhundert, Winckelmann-Gesellschaft, →ISBN, page 45. From the entry serraglio
  • Tomorrow, if I want to write this preface, I will set myself to running down all the paleo- and neo-testamentary courriers.1987, “Envois”, in Alan Bass, transl., The Post Card: From Socrates to Freud and Beyond, Chicago, Ill.; London: The University of Chicago…. From the entry paleotestamentary
  • When each spectator had purportedly become her mother, she was invited to share her mother's wisdom, prefaced by the words "I always said."2012, Jill Dolan, The Feminist Spectator as Critic, University of Michigan Press, →ISBN, page 94. From the entry reverential
  • In many instances even that cannot be done," and John Edgar Wideman prefaces Damballah with "A Begat Chart" and a "Family Tree."2002, Geoffrey H. Hartman with Dr. Geoffrey Hartman, The longest shadow: in the aftermath of the Holocaust, page 108. From the entry begat
  • This table was probably a Solonian preface or preamble to the Draconian laws: its provisions embody the changes that followed from Solon’s reforms.1998, Edwin Carawan, Rhetoric and the Law of Draco, Oxford: Clarendon Press, published 2004, →ISBN, page 91. From the entry draconian
  • Since writing the preface for my sketchbook, I have, of course, been involved in a number of more recent projects where I have sketched ideas for structural solutions.2012, Tony Hunt, Sir Norman Foster, Tony Hunt's Second Sketchbook, →ISBN, page iv. From the entry sketchbook
  • Do we not suspect, deep down, that when we say, “Lord, I believe,” that those three short words are but the preface to “Let the good times roll!”?1998, Calvin Miller, “The Confessional Walk of Faith”, in The Unchained Soul, Minneapolis, Minn.: Bethany House Publishers, →ISBN, page xix. From the entry upsies and downsies
  • Bridge’s article should be prefaced with a warning to readers to let everyone know that data he collects can be estimated, altered, and made up at the author's discretion.1993 May 1, Harrison Cheung, “Letters: Geac and the “Marketplace””, in Library Journal, volume 118, number 8, page 10. From the entry pseudoarticle
  • I shall ask you to view these remarks in the of "foremath" note rather than a preface or introduction, which imply a knowledge of what follows.1967, Edgar M. Horwood, American Society of Planning Officials, Digitized edition, published 2006, page 1. From the entry foremath
  • Speaking of the room in which I locked McIndoe — I will preface by saying that Mac "vamoosed that ranch" that very day and left me alone.1905, Wisconsin Alumni Magazine, volume 7, page 218. From the entry vamoose
  • It therefore seems appropriate to preface this book with a discussion of why elections merit study and an examination of how much has been or can be learnt from psephology.1952, D. E. Butler, The British general election of 1951. From the entry psephology

Meaning of preface

  1. noun A beginning or introductory portion that comes before the main text of a document or book, typically serving to contextualize or explain the writing of the book and sometimes to acknowledge others' contributions; especially, such a discussion written by the work's own author.
  2. noun An introduction, or series of preliminary remarks.
  3. noun A variable prayer forming the prelude or introduction to the Eucharistic Prayer or canon of the Mass, following the Sursum corda dialogue and leading into the Sanctus.

Full definition of preface

Questions about preface in a sentence

How do you use preface in a sentence?
Preface is used as a noun and verb. For example: “The book included a brief preface explaining the author's motivations for writing.”
What is a short sentence with preface?
“to preface a book”
What does preface mean?
Preface means a beginning or introductory portion that comes before the main text of a document or book, typically serving to contextualize or explain the writing of the book and sometimes to acknowledge others' contributions; especially, such a discussion written by the work's own author.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: preface (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use preface in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/preface. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.