英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

front (v.)[front 词源字典]: 1520s, "have the face toward," from Middle French fronter, from Old French front (see front (n.)). Meaning "meet face-to-face" is from 1580s. Meaning "serve as a public facade for" is from 1932. Related: Fronted; fronting.[front etymology, front origin, 英语词源]
front (adj.): "relating to the front," 1610s, from front (n.). Front yard first attested 1767; front door is from 1807. The newspaper front page is attested from 1892; as an adjective in reference to sensational news, 1907.
front-line (n.): also frontline, 1842 in the military sense, from front (adj.) (1520s, from front (n.)) + line (n.). As an adjective from 1915.
front-runner (n.): also frontrunner, of political candidates, 1908, American English, a metaphor from horse racing (where it is used by 1901 of a horse that runs best while in the lead).
frontage (n.): 1620s, from front (n.) + -age.
frontal (adj.): "being in front," 1650s, of the forehead; 1971 with reference to the naked standing body; from Modern Latin frontalis, from front-, stem of Latin frons "brow, forehead" (see front (n.)). In some uses probably from front (n.) + adjectival suffix -al (1).
frontier (n.): c. 1400, frowntere, "front line of an army;" early 15c., fronture, "borderland, part of a country which faces another," from Old French frontiere "boundary-line of a country," also "frontier fortress; front rank of an army" (13c.), noun use of adjective frontier "facing, neighboring," from front "brow" (see front (n.)). In reference to North America, "part of the country which is at the edge of its settled regions" from 1670s. Later it was given a specific sense:
What is the frontier? ... In the census reports it is treated as the margin of that settlement which has a density of two or more to the square mile. [F.J. Turner, "The Frontier in American History," 1920]
frontiersman (n.): 1814, American English, from genitive of frontier + man (n.). Earlier was frontierman (1782).
frontispiece (n.): 1590s, "decorated entrance of a building," from Middle French frontispice (16c.), which is probably from Italian frontespizio and Medieval Latin frontispicium "facade," originally "a view of the forehead, judgment of character through facial features," from Latin frons (genitive frontis) "forehead" (see front (n.)) + specere "to look at" (see scope (n.1)). Sense of "illustration facing a book's title page" first recorded 1680s. The English spelling alteration apparently is from confusion with unrelated piece (n.).
frontlet (n.): "headband," late 15c., from Old French frontelet, diminutive of frontel "forehead, front of a helmet, hairband" (Modern French fronteau), from Late Latin frontale "an ornament for the forehead," from frons "forehead; front" (see front (n.)).
frore (adj.): "frosty, frozen," archaic (but found in poetry as late as Keats), c. 1200, from Old English froren, past participle of freosan (see freeze (v.)). Related: Froren, which would be the title of the Anglo-Saxon version of Disney's movie.
frosh (n.): student colloquial shortening and alteration of freshman, attested from 1908, "perh. under influence of German frosch frog, (dial.) grammar-school pupil" [OED].
frost (n.): Old English forst, frost "frost, a freezing, frozen precipitation, extreme cold," from Proto-Germanic *frustaz- "frost" (cognates: Old Saxon, Old Frisian, Old High German frost, Middle Dutch and Dutch vorst), related to freosan "to freeze," from suffixed form of PIE *preus- "to freeze; burn" (see freeze (v.)). Both forms of the word were common in English till late 15c.; the triumph of frost may be due to its similarity to the forms in other Germanic languages. A black frost (late 14c.) is one which kills plants (turns them black) but is not accompanied by visible frozen dew.
frost (v.): 1630s, "to cover with frost," from frost (n.). Intransitive sense of "to freeze" is from 1807. Related: Frosted; frosting.
frost-bite (n.): also frostbite, 1813, back-formation from frost-bitten (1590s); see frost (n.) + bite (v.). A verb frost-bite is recorded from 1610s. Related: Frost-bit.
frostbitten (adj.): also frost-bitten, 1550s, from frost (n.) + bitten.
frosted (adj.): 1640s, of hair, "turning white;" 1680s, of glass, "having a rough and unpolished surface;" 1734 in cookery, "covered with something (sugar, icing) resembling frost," past participle adjective from frost (v.).
frosting (n.): 1610s as an action; 1756 as a substance; verbal noun from frost (v.). Specific meaning "cake icing" is by 1832, so called from its appearance.
frosty (adj.): Old English forstig, fyrstig "as cold as frost;" see frost (n.) + -y (2). Figurative use from late 14c. Related: Frostily; frostiness. Similar formation in Dutch vorstig, German frostig.
froth (n.): c. 1300, from an unrecorded Old English word, or else from Old Norse froða "froth," from Proto-Germanic *freuth- "froth" (cognates Swedish fradga, Danish fraade). Old English had afreoðan "to froth," from the same root. The modern verb is late 14c., from the noun. Related: Frothed; frothing.