Search Result for "exordium": 
Wordnet 3.0

NOUN (1)

1. (rhetoric) the introductory section of an oration or discourse;


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Exordium \Ex*or"di*um\ (-[u^]m), n.; pl. E. Exordiums (-[u^]mz), L. Exordia (-[.a]). [L. fr. exordiri to begin a web, lay a warp, begin; ex out + ordiri to begin a web, begin; akin to E. order. See Order.] A beginning; an introduction; especially, the introductory part of a discourse or written composition, which prepares the audience for the main subject; the opening part of an oration. "The exordium of repentance." --Jer. Taylor. "Long prefaces and exordiums. " --Addison. [1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

exordium n 1: (rhetoric) the introductory section of an oration or discourse