postlude

The final part of a piece; especially music played (normally on the organ) at the end of a church service.

Noun

  1. The final part of a piece; especially music played (normally on the organ) at the end of a church service.
    • In the Sibelian world of song, then, postludes would inevitably sound redundant or extraneous. - 2023, Gustav Djupsjöbacka, The Songs of Jean Sibelius: Poetry, Music, Performance, page 81:
  2. A concluding passage of text or speech; an epilogue or afterword.
    • This was Nabokov’s postlude to Lolita, where he relates the book’s genesis. - 1995, Richard Powers, Galatea 2.2, Vintage (2019), page 313:

Origin

From post- + Latin lūdus (“play”) (modelled on prelude).

Forms

postludes

Verb

  1. To form a postlude (to); to end with a postlude.
    • Mercifully never preceded by a drum-roll or postluded by a curtsey for applause, each poem seemed to arise from the surrounding prose, which Courtenay was successfully endeavouring to make sound as if it was being...

Forms

postludes postluding postluded