Wordnet 3.0
NOUN (1)
1.
a preliminary discussion inserted at the beginning of a book or treatise;
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Prolegomenon \Prol`e*gom"e*non\, n.; pl. Prolegomena. [ NL.,
fr. Gr. ?, properly neut. pass. p. pr. of ? to say
beforehand; ? before + ? to say.]
A preliminary remark or observation; an introductory
discourse prefixed to a book or treatise. --D. Stokes (1659).
Sir W. Scott.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
prolegomenon
n 1: a preliminary discussion inserted at the beginning of a
book or treatise