*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of front

Etymology tree Latin frontem Old French frontbor. Middle English frount English front From Middle English front, frunt, frount, from Old French front, frunt, from Latin frōns, frontem (“forehead”). Doublet of frons.

3 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 3 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology · variant 1/3

Original entry ↗
intj

Used to summon a worker on duty, such as a bellhop.

adj

Located at or near the front. · Pronounced with the highest part of the body of the tongue toward the front of the mouth, near the hard palate (most often describing a vowel). · Closest or nearest, of a set of futures contracts which expire at particular times, or of the times they expire; (typically, the front month or front year is the next calendar month or year after the current one).

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Etymology tree Latin frontem Old French frontbor. Middle English frount English front From Middle English front, frunt, frount, from Old French front, frunt, from Latin frōns, frontem (“forehead”). Doublet of frons.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
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      "args": {},
      "expansion": ""
    },
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      "name": "etymon",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":inh",
        "3": "enm:frount",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nLatin frontem\nOld French frontbor.\nMiddle English frount\nEnglish front\n[Appendix:Glossary#loanword|Borrowed]] from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"alt\" : \"frontem\", \"id\" : \"forehead\", \"children\" : [ ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Latin\", \"term\" : \"frōns\", \"lang\" : \"la\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Old French\", \"term\" : \"front\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"fro\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"bor\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Middle English\", \"term\" : \"frount\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"enm\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"front\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"front\">"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
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      },
      "expansion": "Middle English front"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fro",
        "3": "front"
      },
      "expansion": "Old French front"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "frōns",
        "4": "frōns, frontem",
        "5": "forehead"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin frōns, frontem (“forehead”)"
    },
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      "name": "doublet",
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        "2": "frons"
      },
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      "frount#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "front",
      "front#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "frunt",
      "frunt#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "frount",
      "frount#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "front",
      "front#Old_French"
    ],
    [
      "frunt",
      "frunt#Old_French"
    ],
    [
      "frōns, frontem",
      "frons#Latin"
    ],
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      "frons",
      "frons#English"
    ]
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        "Located at or near the front.",
        "Pronounced with the highest part of the body of the tongue toward the front of the mouth, near the hard palate (most often describing a vowel).",
        "Closest or nearest, of a set of futures contracts which expire at particular times, or of the times they expire; (typically, the front month or front year is the next calendar month or year after the current one)."
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Unnumbered source etymology · variant 2/3

Original entry ↗
verb

To face (on, to); to be pointed in a given direction. · To face, be opposite to. · To face up to, to meet head-on, to confront. · To adorn with, at the front; to put on the front.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Etymology tree Latin frontem Old French frontbor. Middle English frount English front From Middle English front, frunt, frount, from Old French front, frunt, from Latin frōns, frontem (“forehead”). Doublet of frons.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

This page abbreviates 10 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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      "args": {},
      "expansion": ""
    },
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        "tree": "1"
      },
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    },
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      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "front"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English front"
    },
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      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fro",
        "3": "front"
      },
      "expansion": "Old French front"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "frōns",
        "4": "frōns, frontem",
        "5": "forehead"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin frōns, frontem (“forehead”)"
    },
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      },
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    },
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      "frount#Middle_English"
    ],
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      "front",
      "front#Middle_English"
    ],
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    ],
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      "lang": "German",
      "lang_code": "de",
      "word": "fronten",
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        "borrowed"
      ]
    }
  ],
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        "To face (on, to); to be pointed in a given direction.",
        "To face, be opposite to.",
        "To face up to, to meet head-on, to confront.",
        "To adorn with, at the front; to put on the front."
      ],
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Unnumbered source etymology · variant 3/3

Original entry ↗
noun

The foremost side of something or the end that faces the direction it normally moves. · The side of a building with the main entrance. · A field of activity. · A person or institution acting as the public face of some other, covert group.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Etymology tree Latin frontem Old French frontbor. Middle English frount English front From Middle English front, frunt, frount, from Old French front, frunt, from Latin frōns, frontem (“forehead”). Doublet of frons.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

This page abbreviates 16 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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      "expansion": ""
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    },
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    {
      "lang": "Tok Pisin",
      "lang_code": "tpi",
      "word": "fran"
    },
    {
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "lang_code": "ja",
      "word": "フロント",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ],
      "roman": "furonto"
    },
    {
      "lang": "Korean",
      "lang_code": "ko",
      "word": "프런트",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ],
      "roman": "peureonteu"
    }
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        "The foremost side of something or the end that faces the direction it normally moves.",
        "The side of a building with the main entrance.",
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        "A person or institution acting as the public face of some other, covert group."
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Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for front →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-ZnJvbnQ