the introductory part of a statute, deed, or the like, stating the reasons and intent of what follows.
3.
a preliminary or introductory fact or circumstance: His childhood in the slums was a preamble to a life of crime.
4.
(initial capital letter) the introductory statement of the U.S. constitution, setting forth the general principles of American government and beginning with the words, “We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union. …”
Origin: 1350–1400;Middle English < Medieval Latinpraeambulum, noun use of neuter of Late Latinpraeambulus walking before. See pre-, amble
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.
a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc.
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
a chattering or flighty, light-headed person.
a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.
late 14c., from O.Fr. preambule (13c.), from M.L. preambulum, neut. adj. used as a noun, properly "preliminary," from L.L. præambulus "walking before," from L. præ- "before" + ambulare "to walk" (see amble).