prologist

English

Etymology

From prolog(ize) +‎ -ist.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈpɹɒləd͡ʒɪst/, /ˈpɹəʊləd͡ʒɪst/

Noun

prologist (plural prologists)

1. (rare) The writer or speaker of a prologue.
   • 1716, M. Davies, Athen. Brit. III: Diss. Drama, page 5:

     The following Play…The Prologist and Epilogist represent the whole Course of Literature.

   • 1828, d’Israeli, chapter XII, in Chas. I, volume I, page 326:

     Such a prologist as Sir Dudley seemed scarcely to threaten.

   • 1873, William Lucas Collins, chapter IV, in Plautus and Terence, page 65:

     The principal characters in the play appear to have been grouped in a kind of tableau on the stage while the prologue was delivered, in this as in some other plays. The prologist informs the audience that the two captives who stand in chains on his right and left, are Philocrates, a young noble of Elis, and his slave Tyndarus.

Related terms

• prologize
• prologue

Translations

writer or speaker of a prologue

References

• “Prologist” listed on page 1,449/3 of volume VII (O–P, ed. James Augustus Henry Murray, 1908) of A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (1st ed.)