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I'm looking for a word the describes the concluding text of a document, i.e. the opposite of the document's preamble. Is it just "conclusion"?

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A thesaurus gives addendum, epilogue, postscript. – Mitch Jul 26 '11 at 15:43

closed as general reference by Mitch, z7sg Ѫ, JSBձոգչ, RegDwighт♦ Jul 28 '11 at 9:37

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1 Answer

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Conclusion, afterword, and epilogue all seem to fit the bill.

There's also postamble, but I believe that's more of a computer science term for data transactions.

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+1 for afterword, which I think most accurately signifies a final section contrasted to a preamble before the main body of text. Conclusion suggests the other side of introduction, and epilogue seems much the same to me. +1 more if I could for pointing out postamble is really just an IT term. – FumbleFingers Jul 26 '11 at 16:05
Your other suggestions definitely fit better in a non-IT situation, but as it stands, I'm asking out of curiosity stemming from an IT situation. Ultimately, I think I'm going to go with "postamble". Thanks. – FishBasketGordo Jul 26 '11 at 16:50
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Clearly, the proper pairings are prologue/epilogue, introduction/conclusion, foreword/afterword, preamble/postamble, prelude/postlude, and overture/coda. – Peter Shor Jul 26 '11 at 18:21
Sadly, "postamble" does not seem to be in any dictionary I looked at, nor does it seem to be used by ... anyone. And it seems like such a good word, too. – Jay Oct 31 '11 at 14:20

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