Adjacent Words

Overture definitions

	Tweet

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

O'VERTURE, n.
1. Opening; disclosure; discovery. [In this literal sense, little used.]
2. Proposal; something offered for consideration, acceptance or rejection. The prince made overtures of peace, which were accepted.
3. The opening piece, prelude or symphony of some public act, ceremony or entertainment. The overture in theatrical entertainments, is a piece of music usually ending in a fugue. The overture of a jubilee is a general procession, etc.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: orchestral music played at the beginning of an opera or oratorio
2: something that serves as a preceding event or introduces what follows; "training is a necessary preliminary to employment"; "drinks were the overture to dinner" [syn: preliminary, overture, prelude]
3: a tentative suggestion designed to elicit the reactions of others; "she rejected his advances" [syn: overture, advance, approach, feeler]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, literally, opening, from Anglo-French, from Vulgar Latin *opertura, alteration of Latin apertura — more at aperture Date: 15th century 1. a. an initiative toward agreement or action ; proposal b. something introductory ; prelude 2. a. the orchestral introduction to a musical dramatic work b. an orchestral concert piece written especially as a single movement in sonata form II. transitive verb (-tured; -turing) Date: circa 1650 1. to put forward as an overture 2. to make or present an overture to

Britannica Concise

Musical introduction to a larger, often dramatic, work. Originating with C. Monteverdi's Orfeo (1607), overtures served as openings for operas. The large-scale two- or three-part "French overture" invented by J.-B. Lully (1658) for his operas and ballets was widely imitated for a century. The sinfonia, a development of the latter that became the standard Italian overture form, was a principal precursor of sonata form, which itself became the standard form for later operatic overtures. In the 19th cent., overtures independent of any larger work usually illustrated a literary or historical theme (see symphonic poem). Overtures to operettas and musicals have traditionally been medleys of their themes.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 an orchestral piece opening an opera etc. 2 a one-movement composition in this style. 3 (usu. in pl.) a an opening of negotiations. b a formal proposal or offer (esp. make overtures to). 4 the beginning of a poem etc. Etymology: ME f. OF f. L apertura APERTURE

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Overture O"ver*ture, [OF. overture, F. ouverture, fr. OF. ovrir, F. ouvrir. See Overt.] 1. An opening or aperture; a recess; a recess; a chamber. [Obs.] --Spenser. ``The cave's inmost overture.'' --Chapman. 2. Disclosure; discovery; revelation. [Obs.] It was he That made the overture of thy treasons to us. --Shak. 3. A proposal; an offer; a proposition formally submitted for consideration, acceptance, or rejection. ``The great overture of the gospel.'' --Barrow. 4. (Mus.) A composition, for a full orchestra, designed as an introduction to an oratorio, opera, or ballet, or as an independent piece; -- called in the latter case a concert overture.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Overture O"ver*ture, v. t. To make an overture to; as, to overture a religious body on some subject.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(overtures) 1. An overture is a piece of music, often one that is the introduction to an opera or play. The programme opened with the overture to Wagner's Flying Dutchman. N-COUNT; N-IN-NAMES 2. If you make overtures to someone, you behave in a friendly or romantic way towards them. He had lately begun to make clumsy yet endearing overtures of friendship... N-COUNT: usu pl

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Proposal, offer, proposition. 2. (Mus.) Orchestral introduction to an opera, oratorio, etc.

Moby Thesaurus

Vorspiel, advance, approach, asking price, avant-propos, bid, breakthrough, concert overture, curtain raiser, descant, dramatic overture, exordium, feeler, foreword, front matter, frontispiece, innovation, introduction, invitation, leap, offer, offering, operatic overture, overtures, postulate, preamble, preface, prefix, prefixture, preliminary, preliminary approach, prelude, premise, presentation, presupposition, proem, proffer, prolegomena, prolegomenon, prolepsis, prologue, proposal, proposition, protasis, submission, tender, tentative approach, vamp, verse, voluntary