The German term P riamel, neuter, but feminine since Lessing, derives from the Latin adjective praeambulus (first in Mart. Cap.; ThLL s. v. praeambulus), 'preceding'; it has been used in modern literary scholarship for small German poems of the 12th-16th cents. that place exempla in series [2; 7. 8-12]. F. Dornseiff introduced it into the interpretation of Greek and Roman literature [8. 2].
Priamels may have come into existence in many literatures because of the simplicity of their serial structure [8. 1]; in ancient texts they occur as early as Homerus [1] (Hom. Il.…