Meanings
plural forewords
- An introductory section preceding the main text of a book or other document; especially, one written by another person (not the author of the work thus introduced).
He closes the foreword by acknowledging that his proposals would have far-reaching impacts on railway staff, communities and industry - and passes the buck onto government to ensure that these consequences are managed appropriately.
2023 March 8, Gareth Dennis, “The Reshaping of things to come...”, in RAIL, number 978, page 44Synonyms: forespeech, foretale, foretalk · Antonyms: afterword, epilogue, endsay, conclusion, last word, postamble, afterword, conclusion
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAn introductory section preceding the main text of a book or other document; especially, one written by another person (not the author of the work thus introduced).
More synonyms by meaning
nouna short introductory essay preceding the text of a book
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Old Englishforword
- Latinpraefatio“preface”
- GermanVorwort
- Englishforeword
Morphologically fore- + word. Calque of German Vorwort, itself a calque of Latin praefatio (“preface”). Cognate with German Low German Vörwoord (“foreword”), Dutch voorwoord (“foreword”), West Frisian foarwurd (“foreword”), Danish forord (“preface; proviso”), Swedish förord (“foreword”). Compare also Old English forword, foreword (“proviso; condition”).
More words from German, Latin, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian предговор, предисловие
- предговор (predgovor)an introductory section
- предисловие (predislovie)an introductory section
- предислов (predislov)an introductory section
Catalan pròleg
- pròlegan introductory section
Chinese Mandarin 前言, 序
- 前言 (qiányán)an introductory section
- 序 (xù)an introductory section
Czech předmluva
- předmluvaan introductory section
Danish forord, fortale
- forordan introductory section
- fortalean introductory section
Dutch voorwoord, inleiding
- voorwoordan introductory section
- inleidingan introductory section
Esperanto antaŭparolo
- antaŭparoloan introductory section
Estonian eessõna
- eessõnaan introductory section
Finnish esipuhe, alkusanat
- esipuhean introductory section
- alkusanatan introductory section
- esisanaan introductory section
French avant-propos
- avant-proposan introductory section
German Vorwort, Vorrede
- Vorwortan introductory section
- Vorredean introductory section
Greek πρόλογος
- πρόλογος (prólogos)an introductory section
Hindi प्राक्कथन, प्रस्तावना
- प्राक्कथन (prākkathan)an introductory section
- प्रस्तावना (prastāvnā)an introductory section
- भूमिका (bhūmikā)an introductory section
- आमुख (āmukh)an introductory section
- अवतरणिका (avtarṇikā)an introductory section
- पेश-लफ़्ज़ (peś-lafz)an introductory section
- दीबाचा (dībācā)an introductory section
- दो शब्द (do śabd)an introductory section
- हर्फ़-ए-आग़ाज़ (harf-e-āġāz)an introductory section
- प्रकाशकीय (prakāśkīya)an introductory section
Hungarian előszó
- előszóan introductory section
Icelandic formáli, forspjall
- formálian introductory section
- forspjallan introductory section
Indonesian kata pengantar, prakata
- kata pengantaran introductory section
- prakataan introductory section
Irish réamhrá
- réamhráan introductory section
Italian prefazione
- prefazionean introductory section
Latvian priekšvārds
- priekšvārdsan introductory section
Lithuanian pratarmė
- pratarmėan introductory section
Māori kupu whakataki
- kupu whakatakian introductory section
Norwegian forord, fortale
- forordan introductory section
- fortalean introductory section
Polish przedmowa, przedsłowie
- przedmowaan introductory section
- przedsłowiean introductory section
Portuguese prefácio
- prefácioan introductory section
Romanian cuvânt înainte
- cuvânt înaintean introductory section
Russian предисло́вие
- предисло́вие (predislóvije)an introductory section
Scottish Gaelic ro-ràdh
- ro-ràdhan introductory section
Slovak predslov, predhovor
- predslovan introductory section
- predhovoran introductory section
Spanish prefacio
- prefacioan introductory section
Swedish förord
- förordan introductory section
Tagalog paunang salita, bungadsabi
- paunang salitaan introductory section
- bungadsabian introductory section
Ukrainian передмова
- передмова (peredmova)an introductory section
Vietnamese lời tựa, lời nói đầu
- lời tựaan introductory section
- lời nói đầuan introductory section
Welsh rhagair
- rhagairan introductory section
Rhymes & wordplay
Sounds the same
Cite this entry
foreword. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/foreword
“foreword.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/foreword. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “foreword,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/foreword.
Source: foreword on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.