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overture Definition

over·ture (ōvər c̸hər)

noun

  1. an introductory proposal or offer; indication of willingness to negotiate
    1. a musical introduction to an opera or other large musical work
    2. an independent orchestral composition of varying form
  2. in Presbyterian churches, a proposal or question submitted as by the general assembly to the presbyteries
  3. any introductory section

Etymology: ME, an opening < OFr < VL *opertura < L apertura, aperture

transitive verb -·tured, -·tur·ing

to present as an overture

overture Synonyms

overture

n.

  1. Preliminary negotiations; sometimes plural

    approach, advance, tender, offer; see suggestion 1.

  2. A musical introduction

    prelude, prologue, Vorspiel (German), voluntary, proem, preface; see also introduction 1.

overture Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • resist: The Vatican tends to resist such overtures, on the basis that a subsequent explanation in medical terms could destroy all notion of miracles.
  • reject: City were lifted from the start with the appearance of Luke Prince, playing having rejected overtures from DML rivals Weston-super-Mare.
  • tell: Try playing the William Tell Overture by tapping on the bottom of your chin.
  • make: The story of an acrobat who makes overtures to the daughter of a man whom he has murdered.
  • accept: I do not accept the overtures of John the student.
  • write: It was pointed out to me a week or two later that I had written Overture to The Marriage of Figaro!

Adjective modifier

  • acquisitive: Of income you've lost off acquisitive overtures wound up with.
  • diplomatic: Initially the US made demands rather than apologies or constructive diplomatic overtures.
  • sexual: At an estate agency the proprietress, Moira, makes some explicit sexual overtures to Carla which she finds intriguing.
  • French: The second volume, consisting of the Italian Concerto and the French Overture, duly appeared in 1735.
  • friendly: Had she, I wondered, suspected that an unwelcome or over friendly overture was about to be made by the older woman?
  • such: His diocesan would scarcely have approved of such overtures to a person already widely believed to be a sorcerer.

Modifies a noun

  • listing: More than 88,000 businesses across the globe are currently advertising on Overture search listings.
  • score: This extremely powerful feature can be used to find available domains in various TLDs with high Overture scores.
  • campaign: In my next article I'll discuss the effectiveness of Overture campaign to online stores.
  • digger: Overture Digger allows for deep scanning of Overture based on domains generated from Overture keyword results.

Noun used with modifier

  • concert: Wagner's music: As a young man Wagner composed some concert overtures and a symphony before turning his attention to opera.
  • peace: Throughout the first half of 1945 the Japanese made peace overtures.
  • subsidiary: Its Web site and image results are now supplied by its subsidiary Overture and it offers some serious competition to Google.
  • opera: Waiters burst into half-conscious accompaniment to classical and light opera overtures.

Browse dictionary entries near overture

  1. overtrump
  2. overtrick
  3. overtrain
  4. overtrade
  5. overtop
  6. overtone
  7. overtime
  8. overthrown
  9. overthrow
  10. overtax
  1. overturn
  2. overuse
  3. overvalue
  4. overvalued
  5. overview
  6. overwatch
  7. overwear
  8. overweary
  9. overweening
  10. overweigh