Hypertext Webster Gateway: "preamble"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Preamble \Pre"am`ble\, n. [LL. praeambulum, from L. praeambulus
walking before, fr. praeambulare to walk before; prae before
+ ambulare to walk: cf. F. pr['e]ambule. See {Amble}.]
A introductory portion; an introduction or preface, as to a
book, document, etc.; specifically, the introductory part of
a statute, which states the reasons and intent of the law.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Preamble \Pre"am`ble\, v. t. & i.
To make a preamble to; to preface; to serve as a preamble.
[R.] --Feltham. Milton.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
preamble
n : a preliminary introduction to a statute or constitution
(usually explaining its purpose)
v : make a preamble
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.