front French · revision 16556

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1100, Chanson de Roland|origins=la frōns}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /fʁɔ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''front''' ''m'' (plural fronts)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|frōns|alt=frontem|t=forehead; brow; face, expression; front of a thing, of an army]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|3, 819a) “Frōns” was usually feminine in Latin but already sometimes masculine; in Gallo-Romance only the masculine survives.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Rey and the Petit Robert call it of obscure origin, without Indo-European comparisons, Wiktionary proposes an Indo-European “*bʰron-t-”.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Cognate with [[ro|frunte]], [[it|fronte]], [[oc|front]], [[ca|front]], [[es|frente]] and [[pt|fronte]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In the ''Chanson de Roland'' (about 1100) it is the forehead: ''entre les dous oilz mult out large le front''.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==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).^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) 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.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+

+ 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).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Used alone, ''le front'' named the battle zone in 1914.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) 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'').^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1100 – The forehead, ''Chanson de Roland''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1121–34 – The face, ''a front'' “openly”, Philippe de Thaon.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1165 – The front of an army.^(TLFi)

+ * 1176–81 – ''Front a front'', Chrétien de Troyes.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1225 – The front part of a ship.^(TLFi)

+ * 1559 – Bearing, look, Amyot.^(TLFi)

+ * 1914 – ''Le front'', the battle zone.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1936 – ''Front populaire''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|forehead]], brow: ''un front haut'', ''à la sueur de son front''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(literary)'' The face, the head: ''courber le front'', ''relever le front''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(literary)'' Nerve, effrontery: ''avoir le front de''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ # The front, face of something: ''le front de mer'', ''front de taille''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(military)'' The front line; the battle zone: ''partir au front''.^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''De front'': head-on; abreast, ''faire front'', to face up, ''mener de front'', to carry on at the same time.^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A political alliance: ''le Front populaire''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(meteorology)'' A front: ''front froid''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[frontal]]

+ * [[fronteau]]

+ * [[frontière]]

+ * [[frontalier]]

+ * [[affronter]]

+ * [[affront]]

+ * [[effronté]]

+ * [[confronter]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[frontispice]]

+ * [[la|frōns]]

+ * [[en|front]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}