frons
See also: fröns
English
Grasshopper-head: a: antenna; b: ocelli; c: vertex; d: compound eye; e: occiput; f: gena; g: pleurostoma; h: mandible; i: labial palp; j: maxillary palps; k: maxilla; l: labrum; m: clypeus; n: frons
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin frōns (“the forehead, brow, front”). Doublet of front.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /fɹɒnz/
- (General American) IPA(key): /fɹɑnz/
- Rhymes: -ɒnz
Noun
frons (plural frontes)
- (anatomy) In vertebrates, especially mammals, the forehead; the part of the cranium between the orbits and the vertex.
- (entomology) The front part of the epicranium or head capsule of many insects; generally speaking, the area below or between the antennae and above the clypeus. Typically it lies between the genal or "cheek" areas on either side of the head.
- 1981, J. F. McAlpine, Manual of Nearctic Diptera, volume 1, →ISBN, page 14:
- In a generalized insect the frons extends from the vertex to the frontoclypeal (epistomal) suture, between the two anterior tentorial pits.
-
- (entomology) (of Diptera) The postfrons.
- 1985, D. M. Wood, “A taxonomic conspectus of the Blondeliini of North and Central America and the West Indies (Diptera: Tachinidae)”, in Memoirs of the Entomological Society of Canada, volume 117, DOI:, page 9:
- In most blondeliines (and in most Tachinidae in general), males have a narrower frons than conspecific females […]
-
Synonyms
- forehead
References
- “frons”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
- “frons”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
Dutch
Etymology
Borrowed from Middle French fronce, from Old French fronce, from Frankish *hrunkja (“wrinkle”) from Proto-Germanic *hrunkijō, *hrunkitō (“fold, wrinkle”), from Proto-Indo-European *sker- (“to turn, bend”). The semantic narrowing to frowns on the forehead may be influenced by unrelated Latin frōns.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /frɔns/
Audio (file) - Hyphenation: frons
- Rhymes: -ɔns
Noun
frons f (plural fronsen, diminutive fronsje n)
- A frown, a furrow of one's eyebrows or forehead.
Related terms
- fronsen
Descendants
- Afrikaans: frons
Latin
Etymology 1
Frōns (forehead) virī.
From Proto-Italic *fronts, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrónts (compare Irish braine (“prow, edge”), Old Norse brandr (“sword blade”)), from *bʰren- (“to project; edge”).
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /frons/, [frõːs̠]
- (Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /frons/, [frɔns]
Noun
frōns f (genitive frontis); third declension
- (literally):
- (anatomy) the forehead, brow, front
- Synonyms: ōs, vultus
- the brow or countenance as an indicator of the feelings
- Synonyms: vultus, faciēs
- (anatomy) the forehead, brow, front
- (figuratively):
- as the mirror of a person's character or feelings
- (in particular) as expressing shame
- frontem perfricāre
- to assume a bold air
- (literally, “to wipe the blush of one's brow”)
- (transferred sense) a sense of modesty; decorum, decency
- 34 CE – 62 CE, Persius, 5 104:
- exclāmet Melicerta perīsse frontem dē rēbus
- (Late Latin) as expressing impudence, boldness
- Synonym: ōs
- (transferred sense):
- the outward appearance, external quality, look (as distinct from inward nature)
- Synonyms: faciēs, speciēs, forma, habitus
- prīmā fronte ― at first sight
- the forepart of anything; the front, facade (as opposed to back and sides)
- Antonyms: tergum, latus
- ā fronte, in fronte, in prīmā fronte, in frontem ― in front, to the fore
- (military) the front of an army or fleet in battle array
- (surveying, geography) frontage (the part facing the road, river, coastline), usually in ref. to its length
- the coastline; a projecting piece of coast
- the outer extremity or face, the outer or inner surface (eg. of a wall), the top or bottom end (of a trench), the broad side (of a rectangle)
- either of the flat ends of a papyrus scroll
- the exposed surface, outer side of anything
- the outward appearance, external quality, look (as distinct from inward nature)
Inflection
Third-declension noun (i-stem).
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | frōns | frontēs |
| Genitive | frontis | frontium |
| Dative | frontī | frontibus |
| Accusative | frontem | frontēs frontīs |
| Ablative | fronte | frontibus |
| Vocative | frōns | frontēs |
Derived terms
- frontālia
- frontālis
- frontātī
- frontō
- frontōsus
Descendants
Descendants of frons in other languages
- Dalmatian: fruant
- Eastern Romance:
- Aromanian: frãmti, frãmte, frumti, frumte, frunti, frunte
- Romanian: frunte
- → English: frons
- → Italian: fronte
- → Old French: front
- French: front (see there for further descendants)
- Norman: front
- → Dutch: front
- → Middle English: frount, frunt, front, frownt, frunte, fronte, frownte, frounte, ffrount, ffront, frountte
- English: front
- Tok Pisin: fran
- → Japanese: フロント (furonto)
- → Korean: 프런트 (peureonteu)
- Scots: front
- English: front
- Old Leonese:
- Asturian: frente
- → Old Occitan: front
- → Catalan: front
- → Occitan: front
- → Old Portuguese: fronte
- → Galician: fronte
- → Portuguese: fronte
- Old Spanish: fruente
- Ladino:
- Hebrew: פ׳רינטי
- Latin: frente
- Spanish: frente
- → Portuguese: frente
- Ladino:
- Rhaeto-Romance:
- → Friulian: front
- → Romansch: frunt, frùnt, front
- Romagnol: frònta
- → Sardinian: fronte, fronti, frunte
- Sicilian: frunti
- → Spanish: frontis
- → Venetian: front
Etymology 2
Frōns (leafy branch)
From Proto-Indo-European *bʰron-d- (compare Old English brant (“steep”), Latvian bruôds (“roof ridge”), from *bʰren- (“project”).
Alternative forms
- fruns (dialectal)
Noun
frōns f (genitive frondis); third declension
- (literally) A leafy branch, green bough, foliage.
- Limumque tenent in fronde relictum. (Metamorphoses, 1, 347, Ovidius)
- And they hold some leftover mud in their foliage. (Metamorphoses, 1, 347, Ovid)
- Synonym: folium
- (poetic, transferred sense) A garland made of leafy boughs, a garland of leaves, leafy chaplet.
Inflection
Third-declension noun (i-stem).
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | frōns | frondēs |
| Genitive | frondis | frondium |
| Dative | frondī | frondibus |
| Accusative | frondem | frondēs frondīs |
| Ablative | fronde | frondibus |
| Vocative | frōns | frondēs |
Derived terms
- frondārius
- frondātiō
- frondātor
- frondeō
- frondeus
- frondifer
- frondōsus
Related terms
- frondēscō
Descendants
Descendants of frons in other languages
- → Catalan: fronda
- → English: frond
- → French: fronde
- Italian: fronda
- Old Portuguese:
- Portuguese: fronde
- Old Spanish:
- Spanish: fronda
- Rhaeto-Romance:
- Friulian: frind
- ⇒ Vulgar Latin: *frondia
- Eastern Romance:
- Aromanian: frãndzã, frundzã, frãnzã, frunzã
- Megleno-Romanian: frunză
- Romanian: frunză
- Italian: fronza
- Old Portuguese:
- Galician: fronza
- Portuguese: fronça
- Sardinian: frundza
- Eastern Romance:
References
- “frons” on page 810 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (2nd ed., 2012)
- “frons”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “frons”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- frons in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
- frons in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette
- Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book, London: Macmillan and Co.
- to frown: frontem contrahere (opp. explicare)
- to beat one's brow: frontem ferire, percutere
- one can see it in his face: in fronte alicuius inscriptum est
- not to betray one's feelings by one's looks: sententiam fronte celare, tegere
- to frown: frontem contrahere (opp. explicare)