Skip to definition.
Get the FREE one-click dictionary software for Windows.
NEW iPhone Audio English dictionary


Noun: overture  ow-vur-chu(r)
  1. Orchestral music played at the beginning of an opera or oratorio
     
  2. Something that serves as a preceding event or introduces what follows
    "drinks were the overture to dinner"
    - preliminary, prelude
     
  3. A tentative suggestion designed to elicit the reactions of others
    "she rejected his overtures"
    - advance, approach, feeler

Derived forms: overtures

Type of: inception, music [archaic], origin, origination, proffer, proposition, suggestion

Encyclopedia: Overture