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prequel

prequel

28 3.4
A story or film that shows events before the original work
  • noun
  • /ˈpriːkwəl/
translation icon : precuela
  • In the prequel to the bestselling novel, the author explores the protagonist's childhood.

And she says the first novella, The Finder, is the prequel, right?

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Examples

  • In many ways, the story of the township experiment in West Virginia was a prequel to the stories in North Carolina, Virginia, and South Carolina.

    Academic text (2017)
  • Fever Crumb (Scholastic, 2010) is a prequel to one of Steampunk master Philip Reeve's earlier series, Hungry City Quartet.

    Academic text (2014)
  • This is like a prequel to Sleeping Beauty.

  • Are you interested in the Prequel Era stories and what came before?

    Blog text (10)
  • Still, we have The Last Wish, which is the prequel short story collection for The Witcher.

  • Then they can watch the prequels to get the background of how things got to that point.

    Blog text (10)
  • And like it says here, it's a prequel to all the other Elrich novels.

  • Radway's Sarsaparilla Resolvent, an illustrated prequel to Dangerous Neighbors featuring 1871 Philadelphia, will be released in March from NCCP/Temple.

    Blog text (8)
  • The film served as a prequel to the popular series, revealing the characters' backstories.

  • Many fans were excited to see the prequel that explained how the heroes first came together.

Antonyms

173 3.1

A book, film, or play that continues the story of an earlier one

How Close

prologue
  • Literature
21 6.0
prequel
28 3.4
backstory
56 4.1
sidebar
  • Literature
16 5.3
spin-off
12 3.7

Surface Forms

prequel singular
prequels plural

Morphology

prequel = sequel (semi-transparent) = pre + sequel

The connection to 'sequel' and 'pre-' is recognizable, but the word is an analogical coinage rather than a fully regular prefixation.

Etymology

Prequel is made of pre- meaning 'before' and sequel, a story that comes after another. So a prequel is a story that comes 'before' the original and explains how events began.