front

Forms

front m (oblique plural fronz, frontz; nominative singular fronz, frontz)^[1]

• frunt, frount, fron, fronc^[1][2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin frōns (“forehead, brow”), from the accusative frontem.^[1][5][6][7] The Latin word was usually feminine but already sometimes masculine, and is only masculine in Gallo-Romance.^[8] The DÉRom takes the masculine to be an old Romance innovation after the word for "bridge" (the source of French pont), beside the original feminine kept in the east and the west of the Romance area.^[9] Its cognates include Italian fronte, Romanian frunte, Catalan front and Portuguese fronte.^[10] The DHLF calls the Latin word obscure, with no Indo-European relatives,^[11] and Etymonline quotes de Vaan's verdict of "no plausible etymology".^[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is the Chanson de Roland, about 1100 (1080 by the DHLF's dating), which describes a Saracen: entre les dous oilz mult out large le front "between his two eyes his forehead was very broad".^[7][13][11]

Semantic evolution

From the forehead the word passed to the face, as in a front "to someone's face, openly" in Philippe de Thaon's Bestiaire (1121–1134).^[7][11] Like Latin frons, it was also the front of things: the front line of an army from about 1165, the front of a building, and the prow of a ship about 1225.^[7][14] Chrétien has de front "abreast, in a line" and front a front "face to face".^[7][15] The word continues as French front.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 1100 – frunt and front in the Chanson de Roland.^[16][3][7]
• 1100–1133 – the first Anglo-Norman record the AND cites.^[2]
• 1121–1134 – a front "openly" in Philippe de Thaon's Bestiaire.^[7]
• c. 1165 – the front line of an army, in the Roman de Troie.^[7]
• c. 1170 – front in Chrétien de Troyes's Erec et Enide.^[17]
• 1176–1181 – front a front in Chrétien's Lancelot.^[7]
• c. 1225 – the prow of a ship, in Florence de Rome.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. the forehead, brow.^[17][2]
2. the face;^[7][2] a front openly, to one's face.^[7][2]
3. the front, foremost side (of a thing), the facade of a building.^[18][14]
4. the head or front rank of an army, the vanguard.^[18][2]
5. de front abreast, side by side, in a line;^[19][15] front a front face to face.^[19][15]

Anglo-Norman

The AND heads the word frunt, first cites it from the first third of the 12th century, and lists front, frount, frounte and frund.^[2] Insular texts also use it for an altar frontal, a cloth often with an ornamental border.^[2] The MED derives Middle English frount from Old French front and Latin frontem,^[20] and English front, first "forehead", dates from the late 13th century.^[12]

Word family

• frontiere

Descendants

• French front^[1]
• Norman front^[1]
• Dutch front (borrowed)^[1]
• Middle English frount (borrowed; → English front, Scots front)^[1]

Usage notes

Tobler–Lommatzsch, the DÉCT and the DMF head the word front, the AND frunt.^{[21][17][22][2]}

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–), p. s.v. frunt
3. ^ a b Baldinger, Kurt; Möhren, Frankwalt; Städtler, Thomas, eds. (1971–2021), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'ancien français (DEAF), Heidelberg: Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften; DEAFél / DEAFpré, deaf-server.adw.uni-heidelberg.de, p. s.v. front
4. ^ FROLEX 3.0, lexique morphologique du français médiéval (IXe–XVe s.), Base de français médiéval, ENS de Lyon (from the BFM, the Nouveau Corpus d'Amsterdam and the DMF), github.com/sheiden/Medieval-French-Language-Toolkit
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3:819
6. ^ Gamillscheg, Ernst (1966–1969), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der französischen Sprache, 2nd, fully revised ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 483
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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
8. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France, p. 319
9. ^ Buchi, Éva; Schweickard, Wolfgang, eds. (2008–), Dictionnaire Étymologique Roman (DÉRom), Nancy: ATILF, http://www.atilf.fr/DERom
10. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh, p. 4007
11. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. front
12. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
13. ^ Rainsford, Thomas, CorMétAF: lemmatised extracts of Old and Middle French verse and prose (990–1500), github (texts by siglum), p. RolMoign
14. ^ a b Greimas, Algirdas Julien (1979), Dictionnaire de l'ancien français jusqu'au milieu du XIVe siècle, 2nd ed., Paris: Larousse (printing of 1988), p. s.v. front
15. ^ a b c Foerster, Wendelin; Breuer, Hermann (1914), Kristian von Troyes: Wörterbuch zu seinen sämtlichen Werken, Halle: Niemeyer, p. 148
16. ^ UD Old French PROFITEROLE and UD Middle French PROFITEROLE treebanks, Universal Dependencies (from the SRCMF and the Base de français médiéval; texts by DEAF siglum), p. RolS
17. ^ a b c Dictionnaire électronique de Chrétien de Troyes (DÉCT), LFA / Université d'Ottawa – ATILF, CNRS / Université de Lorraine (2014), p. s.v. front
18. ^ a b Tobler, Adolf; Lommatzsch, Erhard (1925–2002), Altfranzösisches Wörterbuch, 11 vols., Berlin / Wiesbaden / Stuttgart: Weidmann / Steiner, p. 3:2305
19. ^ a b Tobler, Adolf; Lommatzsch, Erhard (1925–2002), Altfranzösisches Wörterbuch, 11 vols., Berlin / Wiesbaden / Stuttgart: Weidmann / Steiner, p. 3:2306
20. ^ Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
21. ^ Tobler, Adolf; Lommatzsch, Erhard (1925–2002), Altfranzösisches Wörterbuch, 11 vols., Berlin / Wiesbaden / Stuttgart: Weidmann / Steiner, p. 3:2304
22. ^ Dictionnaire du Moyen Français, version 2015 (DMF 2015), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/dmf, p. s.v. front