Overture
in music, an introductory symphony for instruments, chiefly used as an introduction to important musical compositions, as operas, oratorios, etc. Its principal themes are often taken from the work it precedes. In Presbyterianism, a petition or proposal from a Presbytery, or an individual, to the highest court, which is the General Assembly or the Synod, that a new law be created, an old one amended or repealed, ed, or a measure carried into effect. The term was borrowed from the Huguenots.