Prolegomenon

/pɹˈəʊlɡəʊmnən/

/pɹˈoʊlɡoʊmnən/

Prolegomenon

an introduction or a preliminary discussion that comes before a larger work, usually dealing with the principles, assumptions, or methodology of the main work

Examples

1. Turn on the PowerPoint, it will be a prolegomenon to my answer to your question.

2. I still haven’t got round to writing the book, but this talk is a kind of prolegomenon for it, an initial attempt to think about possible approaches to the topic.