Hypertext Webster Gateway: "overture"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Overture \O"ver*ture\, [OF. overture, F. ouverture, fr. OF.
ovrir, F. ouvrir. See {Overt}.]
1. An opening or aperture; a recess; a recess; a chamber.
[Obs.] --Spenser. ``The cave's inmost overture.''
--Chapman.
2. Disclosure; discovery; revelation. [Obs.]
It was he That made the overture of thy treasons to
us. --Shak.
3. A proposal; an offer; a proposition formally submitted for
consideration, acceptance, or rejection. ``The great
overture of the gospel.'' --Barrow.
4. (Mus.) A composition, for a full orchestra, designed as an
introduction to an oratorio, opera, or ballet, or as an
independent piece; -- called in the latter case a {concert
overture}.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Overture \O"ver*ture\, v. t.
To make an overture to; as, to overture a religious body on
some subject.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
overture
n 1: orchestral music played at the beginning of an opera or
oratorio
2: something that serves as a preceding event or introduces
what follows; "training is a necessary preliminary to
employment"; "drinks were the overture to dinner" [syn: {preliminary},
{prelude}]
3: a tentative suggestion designed to elicit the reactions of
others; "she rejected his advances" [syn: {advance}, {approach},
{feeler}]
Additional Hypertext Webster Gateway Lookup
Gateway by dict@stokkie.net
stock only wrote the gateway and does not have any control over the contents;
see the Webster Gateway FAQ,
and also the Back-end/database links and credits.