Front

How to spell front

5 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce front

What does front mean?

1. nounThe part or side of something that faces forward or is seen first.
2. nounThe boundary between two masses of air of different temperatures, often bringing a change in weather.
3. nounAn organisation or activity used as a cover to hide a secret or illegal purpose.
4. verbTo face toward something, or to act as the public face or leader of something.

Front in a sentence

• noun

  A delivery van was parked at the front of the building.

• noun

  The forecaster warned that a cold front would sweep in overnight.

• noun

  Investigators discovered the shop was a front for money laundering.

• verb

  The hotel rooms that front the sea cost considerably more.

• noun

  She spilled coffee down the front of her shirt.

• noun

  A warm front brought drizzle and grey skies all weekend.

Where does front come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word comes from the Latin frons, with the stem front-, which literally meant the forehead or brow, and by extension the face a person presents to the world. From that physical sense Latin developed the idea of the foremost part or the leading edge of anything. The word travelled into English through Old French front during the 1200s, at first meaning the forehead itself and the front of an army drawn up for battle. Over the centuries the meaning fanned out to cover the leading part of any object, the boundary line in warfare, and figuratively the false face an organisation puts on to disguise its real purpose. The same Latin root survives in 'frontier', 'affront', and 'confront', and the buried letter o, pronounced like the u in 'hunt', is the only mild surprise the spelling holds.

How the word is built

• front (from Latin frons, frontis: forehead, brow, face)