# frons
## English
### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin frōns (“the forehead, brow, front”). Doublet of front.

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /fɹɒnz/
* (General American) IPA: /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

#### Derived terms

* prefrons

### References

* “frons”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
* “frons”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

## 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: /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
    Ze keek met een diepe frons naar het document. ― She looked at the document with a deep frown.
    Zijn frons gaf zijn verwarring aan. ― His frown indicated his confusion.
    Ik zag een kleine fronsje op haar voorhoofd. ― I saw a tiny furrow on her forehead.

#### Related terms

* fronsen

#### Descendants

* Afrikaans: frons

## Latin
### Etymology 1

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 Latin) IPA: /frons/, [frõːs̠]
* (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA: /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
* (figuratively):
** as the mirror of a person's character or feelings
** (in particular) as expressing shame
    frontem perfricāreto 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
*** 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 4.476–477:[...] et maestam dictīs adgressa sorōrem, cōnsilium voltū tegit, ac spem fronte serēnat [...].[...] and [as Dido] approaches her sorrowful sister to talk, by her expression she hides her plan, and even shines with serene hope in her appearance.
    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

##### Inflection

Third-declension noun (i-stem).

##### Derived terms

* frontālia
* frontālis
* frontātī
* frontō
* frontōsus

##### Descendants

* Dalmatian: fruant
* Eastern Romance:
** Aromanian: frãmti f, frãmte, frumti, frumte, frunti, frunte
** Romanian: frunte f
* Italian: fronte f
* Old French: front m
** French: front m (see there for further descendants)
** Norman: front m
** → Dutch: front
** → Middle English: frount, ffront, ffrount, front, fronte, frounte, frountte, frownt, frownte, frunt, frunte
*** English: front (see there for further descendants)
*** Scots: front
* Old Leonese:
** Asturian: frente f
* Old Occitan: front
** Catalan: front m
** Occitan: frònt m
* Old Galician-Portuguese: fronte
** Galician: fronte f
** Portuguese: fronte f
* Old Spanish: fruente f
** Ladino:
    Hebrew script: פ׳רינטי
    Latin script: frente
** Spanish: frente f (see there for further descendants)
* Romagnol: frònta
* Sicilian: frunti f
* → English: frons
* → Friulian: front
* → Romansch: frunt, frùnt, front
* → Sardinian: fronte, fronti, frunte
* → Spanish: frontis
* → Venetan: front

### Etymology 2

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.
    Synonym: folium
    Limumque tenent in fronde relictum. (Metamorphoses, 1, 347, Ovidius)And they hold some leftover mud in their foliage. (Metamorphoses, 1, 347, Ovid)
* (poetic, transferred sense) A garland made of leafy boughs, a garland of leaves, leafy chaplet.

##### Inflection

Third-declension noun (i-stem).

##### Derived terms

* frondārius
* frondātiō
* frondātor
* frondeō
* frondeus
* frondifer
* frondōsus

##### Related terms

* frondēscō

##### Descendants

* Italian: fronda
* Spanish: fronda
* Friulian: frind
* → Catalan: fronda
* → English: frond
* → French: fronde
* → Portuguese: fronde

### 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