Plural of exordium; the introductions or opening parts of speeches, writings, or musical pieces.
From Latin exordium (plural exordia), from exordiri 'to begin,' composed of ex- 'out' and ordiri 'to begin to weave.' The Romans used this term for the opening of a speech.
Roman orators were so focused on craft that they had a special word just for the opening section of a speech—and that word literally means 'beginning to weave,' treating rhetoric like textile-making with warp and woof!
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