Frontispiece
noun, verb, slang ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 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.]"
- 2 front illustration facing the title page of a book wordnet
- 3 The title page of a book. archaic
- 4 an ornamental facade wordnet
- 5 A façade, especially an ornamental one.
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- 6 A small ornamental pediment, especially at the top of a window or door.
- 7 A person's face. archaic, humorous, slang
"He carries on his frontispiece the indubitable marks of a money-dealer. His is one of those peculiar faces […]"
- 1 To supply with a frontispiece. rare, transitive
"The novel was frontispieced with a portrait of the author."
Example
More examples"In their catalogues, MM. Morgand and Fatout print a facsimile of the frontispiece of this very rare edition."
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.
Related phrases
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.