exposition

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun A setting forth of meaning or intent.
• noun A statement or rhetorical discourse intended to give information about or an explanation of difficult material.
• noun The art or technique of composing such discourses.
• noun The first part of a composition in sonata form that introduces the themes.
• noun The opening section of a fugue.
• noun The part of a play that provides the background information needed to understand the characters and the action.
• noun An act or example of exposing.
• noun A public exhibition or show, as of artistic or industrial developments.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun The act of exposing, uncovering, making bare, revealing, laying out to or bringing into view, or the state of being exposed or brought clearly into view.
• noun An exhibition or show, as of the products of art and manufacture.
• noun The act of exposing to danger; exposure.
• noun The act of expounding; an extended explication, as of a doctrine; a detailed explanation, as of a passage or book of Scripture.
• noun In logic, the making clear of any general relation by means of an indeterminate supposition of an individual case: a translation of the Greek ε%148κθεσις as used by Aristotle. This is the ordinary mode of demonstration in mathematics.
• noun Openness of situation as regards some direction or point of the compass; exposure.
• noun In music: The act, process, or result of presenting or enunciating the themes or subjects of a composition.
• noun Specifically, the opening section of a fugue or a sonata, in which the subject or subjects are first set forth: often called the exposition section.
• noun That sort of setting forth of a purpose or general idea which consists in showing how the purpose or idea will apply to particular cases.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun The act of exposing or laying open; a setting out or displaying to public view.
• noun The act of expounding or of laying open the sense or meaning of an author, or a passage; explanation; interpretation; the sense put upon a passage; a law, or the like, by an interpreter; hence, a work containing explanations or interpretations; a commentary.
• noun obsolete Situation or position with reference to direction of view or accessibility to influence of sun, wind, etc.; exposure
• noun A Gallicism A public exhibition or show, as of industrial and artistic productions.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun The action of exposing something to something, such as skin to the sunlight.
• noun The action of putting something out to public view; for example in a display or show.
• noun The act of declaring or describing something through either speech or writing.
• noun obsolete The act of expulsion, or being expelled, from a place.
• noun writing An essay or speech in which any topic is discussed in detail.
• noun writing An opening section in fiction, including novel, play, and movie, by which background information about the characters, events, or setting is conveyed.
• noun music The opening section of a fugue; the opening section of a movement in sonata form

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun a collection of things (goods or works of art etc.) for public display
• noun a systematic interpretation or explanation (usually written) of a specific topic
• noun an account that sets forth the meaning or intent of a writing or discourse
• noun (music) the section of a movement (especially in sonata form) where the major musical themes first occur