exordium

Their invitation Dr. Fosdick expressed in a great exordium: The great east window of Chicago's Fourth Presbyterian Church has long needed proper furbishing in stained glass.

From Time Magazine Archive

I trembled violently at his exordium, and my father continued—

From "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley

The purpose of the exordium is to put the audience into a receptive and attentive frame of mind.

From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith

He ended his exordium by invoking with impassioned phrases the aid of this Sacred Heart in letting his discourse bring forth fruit.

From The Marquis of Pe?alta (Marta y Mar?a) A Realistic Social Novel by Palacio Vald?s, Armando

It would have been a bad exordium to assign fear as the motive of the messiah's retreat.

From Ecce Homo! A Critical Inquiry into the History of Jesus of Nazareth: Being a Rational Analysis of the Gospels by Holbach, Paul Henry Thiry Baron d'

They were seeking to catch some lyric exordia as they flew by immersed in the billows of the air.

From The Eleven Comedies, Volume 1 by Aristophanes

But in the exordia and perorations to the several books, as well as in sundry digressions, may be found matter of greater value, embodying the poet's views on the great questions of philosophy.

From The History of Roman Literature From the earliest period to the death of Marcus Aurelius by Cruttwell, Charles Thomas

I imagine that this sacred influence, under the name of Amphi, is often alluded to in the exordia of Poets, especially by the writers in Dithyrambic measure, when they address Apollo.

From A New System; or, an Analysis of Antient Mythology. Volume I. by Bryant, Jacob

Matteo is valuable for the general reflections which form exordia to the eleven books that bear his name.

From Renaissance in Italy, Volume 1 (of 7) The Age of the Despots by Symonds, John Addington

It is a theory of mine that a drive in the country with the right companion is better than exordiums.

From A Beautiful Possibility by Black, Edith Ferguson

As therefore all orators make use of introductory remarks to get the benevolent attention of their audience, so our poet makes use of exordiums fitted to move and reach the hearer.

From Complete Works of Plutarch — Volume 3: Essays and Miscellanies by Plutarch

Introductions, exordiums, perorations, and conclusions are worthless unless they be in reality a part of the discussion and necessary to the understanding of the whole.

From English: Composition and Literature by Webster, W. F. (William Franklin)

In his hortatory asides and didactic moralizings with their thees and thous and yeas, he is still the fine essayist, like Fielding in his eighteenth century prefatory exordiums.

From Masters of the English Novel A Study of Principles and Personalities by Burton, Richard

"I will say no more if you talk of exordiums and anti-climaxes," cried he.

From Tales and Novels — Volume 10 by Edgeworth, Maria