From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishprefatorypref‧a‧to‧ry /ˈprefətəri $ -tɔːri/ adjective [only before noun] formal ALBEFOREforming a preface or introduction SYN introductory a few prefatory remarks
Examples from the Corpus
prefatory• And yet the treatment of his characters is not exactly what that prefatory article of his might have led one to expect.• Three further prefatory remarks are necessary. 