Exordium(n.) A beginning; an introduction; especially, the introductory part of a discourse or written composition, which prepares the audience for the main subject; the opening part of an oration.
Thesaurus Entries
aggravated assault, aggression, amphibious attack, armed assault, assailing, assailment, assault, attack, avant-propos, banzai attack, blitz, blitzkrieg, boost, charge, coinage, counterattack, counteroffensive, coup de main, crippling attack, dead set at, descent on, discovery, diversion, diversionary attack, drive, exordium, flank attack, foreword, front matter, frontal attack, frontispiece, gas attack, head-on attack, hike, increase, infiltration, innovation, introduction, invention, leap, lightning attack, lightning war, mass attack, megadeath, mugging, neologism, new phase, novelty, offense, offensive, onset, onslaught, overkill, overture, panzer warfare, postulate, preamble, preface, prefix, prefixture, preliminary, prelude, premise, presupposition, proem, prolegomena, prolegomenon, prolepsis, prologue, protasis, push, run against, run at, rush, sally, shock tactics, sortie, strike, unprovoked assault, upgrade, verse, voluntary, wax