exordium

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UK/ɛɡˈzɔːdɪəm/US/ɛɡˈzɔɹdɪəm/

noun

A beginning.

OriginLatin exordium →
RareScrabble 18
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Meanings

nounexordium (plural exordiums or exordia)

plural exordiums · plural exordia

  1. formalA beginning.
  2. The introduction to an essay or discourse.

    This is a feeble article of faith to begin with, but it helps to push my pen through this exordium and what now follows.

    1985, Anthony Burgess, Kingdom of the Wicked
    2 more examples

    Cicero thinks, in discourses of philosophy, the exordium to be the hardest part: if it be so, I wisely lay hold on the conclusion.

    1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 17, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC

    The depreciation of her produce was next insisted upon; and I found this exordium led to the information that Messrs. Standish and Co. had been enabled, from the depressed state of the market, to lay in a large stock of Irish linen at unheard-of low prices.

    1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Romance and Reality. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, pages 180–181

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
exord

Origin

  1. Latinexordium“beginning, commencement”
  2. Englishexordium

Borrowed from Latin exordium (“beginning, commencement”), from exōrdior (“to begin, commence”), from ex (“out of, from”) + ōrdior (“to begin”).

More words from Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian начало, увод
  • начало (načalo)beginning
  • увод (uvod)introduction to an essay or discourse
  • въведение (văvedenie)introduction to an essay or discourse
Catalan exordi
  • exordiintroduction to an essay or discourse
Finnish alkusanat, johdanto
  • alkusanatintroduction to an essay or discourse
  • johdantointroduction to an essay or discourse
Hindi भूमिका, उपोदघात
  • भूमिका (bhūmikā)beginning
  • उपोदघात (upodghāt)beginning
  • आमुख (āmukh)beginning
  • वाडमुख (vāḍmukh)beginning
  • मुखबन्ध (mukhbandh)beginning
  • मुखबंध (mukhbandh)beginning
  • प्रस्ताव (prastāv)beginning
  • मुक़दमा (muqadmā)beginning
  • भूमिका (bhūmikā)introduction to an essay or discourse
  • उपोदघात (upodghāt)introduction to an essay or discourse
  • आमुख (āmukh)introduction to an essay or discourse
  • वाडमुख (vāḍmukh)introduction to an essay or discourse
Portuguese exórdio, exórdio
  • exórdiobeginning
  • exórdiointroduction to an essay or discourse
Russian нача́ло, вступле́ние
  • нача́ло (načálo)beginning
  • вступле́ние (vstuplénije)introduction to an essay or discourse
  • введе́ние (vvedénije)introduction to an essay or discourse
Spanish exordio, exordio
  • exordiobeginning
  • exordiointroduction to an essay or discourse
Cite this entry
APA

exordium. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/exordium

MLA

“exordium.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/exordium. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “exordium,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/exordium.

Source: exordium on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.