Navigation
Home
Resources
Irregular verbs quizzes English conjugator English-French dictionary French dictionary English dictionary Monolingual dictionaries Scores by institution Free sample tests FAQ Pricing Tourism training Blog Videos
Login Sign up
Blog
Videos
Pricing
FR EN

frontispiece

noun, verb — 6 senses

frontispiece

noun

UK /ˈfɹʌn.tɪsˌpiːs/ · US /ˈfɹʌn.tɪsˌpis/

Etymology From Middle French frontispice, from Italian frontespizio or Medieval Latin frontispicium, from Latin frōns (“forehead”, oblique stem in front-) + -spic- (“to watch”, combining form of speciō) + -ium. Spelling altered due to folk etymology, influenced by piece.

1

Media, Publishing An illustration that is on the page before the title page of a book, a section of one, or a magazine.

  • The viaduct was illustrated as a frontispiece to THE RAILWAY MAGAZINE of September, 1938. [In this case, the frontispiece is between the title page and the first article.]1939 September, D. S. Barrie, “The Railways of South Wales”, in Railway Magazine, page 163:
2

Media, Publishing Archaic The title page of a book.

3

Architecture A façade, especially an ornamental one.

4

Architecture A small ornamental pediment, especially at the top of a window or door.

5

Archaic, Humorous, Slang A person's face.

  • He carries on his frontispiece the indubitable marks of a money-dealer. His is one of those peculiar faces […]1844, George Pope Morris, Nathaniel Parker Willis, The New Mirror, volume 3, page 99:

frontispiece

verb

Etymology From Middle French frontispice, from Italian frontespizio or Medieval Latin frontispicium, from Latin frōns (“forehead”, oblique stem in front-) + -spic- (“to watch”, combining form of speciō) + -ium. Spelling altered due to folk etymology, influenced by piece.

1

Rare To supply with a frontispiece.

  • The novel was frontispieced with a portrait of the author.

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.