overture Meaning, Definition & Usage

noun orchestral music played at the beginning of an opera or oratorio
noun something that serves as a preceding event or introduces what follows
prelude; preliminary.
- training is a necessary preliminary to employment
- drinks were the overture to dinner
noun a tentative suggestion designed to elicit the reactions of others
advance; approach; feeler.
- she rejected his advances

OF. overture, F. ouverture, fr. OF. ovrir, F. ouvrir. See Overt.

An opening or aperture; a recess; a recess; a chamber. Obs. Spenser. "The cave's inmost overture." Chapman.
Disclosure; discovery; revelation. Obs.
It was he That made the overture of thy treasons to us. Shak.
A proposal; an offer; a proposition formally submitted for consideration, acceptance, or rejection. "The great overture of the gospel." Barrow.
(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.