front

Pronunciation

• IPA: /fʁɔ̃/^[1]

Forms

front m (plural fronts)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin frontem (“forehead; brow; face, expression; front of a thing, of an army”).^{[2][3][4][5][6]} “Frōns” was usually feminine in Latin but already sometimes masculine; in Gallo-Romance only the masculine survives.^[4] Rey and the Petit Robert call it of obscure origin, without Indo-European comparisons, Wiktionary proposes an Indo-European “*bʰron-t-”.^[3][7][1]

Cognate with Romanian frunte, Italian fronte, Occitan front, Catalan front, Spanish frente and Portuguese fronte.^[7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Chanson de Roland (about 1100) it is the forehead: entre les dous oilz mult out large le front.^[2][8]

Semantic evolution

By metonymy it meant the face, the head (1121–34), as in courber le front, and the seat of thought and feeling (end of the 12th century).^[3][2] In the classical period it meant bearing, look (Amyot, 1559) and boldness (1662), whence avoir le front de “to have the nerve to”, Eustache Deschamps already saw in it the seat of pride.^[3][2]

From Latin it took the sense “front line of an army” (about 1165) and “front part of a thing” (about 1225), whence de front (Chrétien de Troyes), faire front (16th century) and mener de front (1716).^[2][3] Used alone, le front named the battle zone in 1914.^[3][9] By analogy it came to mean an alliance of parties, as in Front populaire (1936, after Spanish Frente popular), and in meteorology a boundary between air masses (front froid).^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1100 – The forehead, Chanson de Roland.^[2]
• 1121–34 – The face, a front “openly”, Philippe de Thaon.^[2]
• c. 1165 – The front of an army.^[2]
• 1176–81 – Front a front, Chrétien de Troyes.^[2]
• c. 1225 – The front part of a ship.^[2]
• 1559 – Bearing, look, Amyot.^[2]
• 1914 – Le front, the battle zone.^[9]
• 1936 – Front populaire.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. The forehead, brow: un front haut, à la sueur de son front.^[7][1]
2. (literary) The face, the head: courber le front, relever le front.^[7][3]
3. (literary) Nerve, effrontery: avoir le front de.^[3]
4. The front, face of something: le front de mer, front de taille.^[3]
5. (military) The front line; the battle zone: partir au front.^[1][3]
6. De front: head-on; abreast, faire front, to face up, mener de front, to carry on at the same time.^[3][1]
7. A political alliance: le Front populaire.^[3]
8. (meteorology) A front: front froid.^[3]

Word family

• frontal
• fronteau
• frontière
• frontalier
• affronter
• affront
• effronté
• confronter

Related words

• frontispice
• Latin frōns
• English front

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 819a
7. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse