Definition
The introductory portion of a written legal instrument, pleading, or other document that sets forth preliminary matter — including background facts, context, or framing — before the substantive provisions or arguments begin. In legal usage, the term describes the prefatory section of a document that orients the reader to the subject, identifies the parties or purpose, and establishes the interpretive foundation for what follows.
In pleadings and briefs, the introduction presents the core theory or factual background before formal allegations or arguments are developed. In contracts and statutes, introductory matter may include recitals, preambles, or prefatory clauses that establish context and, in some jurisdictions and instruments, carry interpretive weight. In treatises and legal writing generally, the introduction signals the scope and structure of the work.
Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): The act or process of introducing; an initial section of a book or article which introduces the subject material; a written or oral explanation of what constitutes the basis of an issue.
Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): That part of a book or discourse which introduces or leads the way to the main subject; preliminary matter; preface; proem; exordium.
The legal meaning tracks closely with ordinary usage but carries a more consequential edge in formal documents: in contracts, statutes, and instruments, introductory matter is not merely scene-setting — it can bear on interpretation, define the scope of operative provisions, and in some contexts create enforceable obligations or limit them. Researchers should not treat the introduction to a legal instrument as purely ornamental.
Why It Matters in Research
The practical significance of an "introduction" varies dramatically depending on the document type. In statutory instruments, introductory and preamble sections have historically been treated differently from operative text — some courts look to them for interpretive guidance when operative language is ambiguous; others treat them as non-binding. This distinction matters when researching the legislative history or judicial construction of older statutes in the Law Mind corpus.
In contract drafting, the introduction often merges with recitals (the "whereas" clauses), and historical sources use the terms interchangeably. Researchers searching for guidance on interpretive weight given to introductory matter should also search under RECITAL and PREAMBLE, which have more developed doctrinal treatments in the historical dictionaries.
In pleadings, what practitioners call an "introduction" is not a formal term of art in most procedural codes — it is a drafting convention. Historical sources predate modern brief-writing norms and may not address the introductory section of a brief at all. Researchers should not expect consistent treatment across eras.
The Black's 2nd edition supplemental entry is notably spare — "the part of a writing which sets forth preliminary matter, or facts tending to explain the subject" — reflecting the term's functional rather than doctrinal nature. It is a structural descriptor, not a term with an independent legal test or elements.
Historical Dictionary Support
Black's Law Dictionary (2nd Ed.) Supplemental defines introduction simply as "[t]he part of a writing which sets forth preliminary matter, or facts tending to explain the subject." This is the dictionary entry in its entirety, which itself signals something important: the term lacks the doctrinal weight of most Black's entries. It is a descriptive label for a structural feature of documents, not a term of legal art with defined consequences.
Webster's 1913 and Wiktionary align closely with Black's, all three pointing to the same core concept — prefatory, orienting, preliminary. The historical dictionaries do not distinguish between the introduction's role in different document types (brief, contract, statute, treatise), a gap researchers must fill by consulting the relevant procedural rules, canons of construction, or drafting guides for the period and document type under study.
What the historical sources collectively miss is any treatment of interpretive consequence — whether and when introductory matter binds, limits, or illuminates operative text. That analysis lives in the case law, not the dictionaries, and researchers will find it more productively under PREAMBLE, RECITAL, and CONSTRUCTION OF INSTRUMENTS.