Frontispiece - Definitions from Dictionary.com

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

fron·tis·piece

Audio Help [fruhn-tis-pees, fron-] Pronunciation Key

–noun

1.	an illustrated leaf preceding the title page of a book.

2.	Architecture. a façade, or a part or feature of a façade, often highlighted by ornamentation.

[Origin: 1590–1600; alter. (conformed to piece) of earlier frontispice < F < ML frontispicium, equiv. to L fronti- front + -spicium (comb. form repr. specere to look at)

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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Frontispiece

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

fron·tis·piece Audio Help (frŭn'tĭ-spēs') Pronunciation Key
n.

An illustration that faces or immediately precedes the title page of a book, book section, or magazine.
Architecture
1. A façade, especially an ornamental façade.
2. A small ornamental pediment, as on top of a door or window.
Archaic A title page.

[Alteration (influenced by piece) of French frontispice, from Late Latin frontispicium, façade of a building : Latin frontis, genitive of frōns, forehead, front + Latin specere, to look at; see spek- in Indo-European roots.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
frontispiece

1597, "decorated entrance of a building," from M.Fr. frontispice, probably from It. frontespizio and L.L. frontispicium "facade," originally "a view of the forehead, judgment of character through facial features," from L. frons (gen. frontis) "forehead" + specere "to look at" (see scope (1)). Sense of "illustration facing a book's title page" first recorded 1682.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

frontispiece
noun
1.	an ornamental facade
2.	front illustration facing the title page of a book

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
frontispiece [ˈfrantispiːs] noun

a picture at the very beginning of a book

Arabic:	صورَة في صَدر كِتاب مواجِهَة للعنوان
Chinese (Simplified):	（书的）卷首插画
Chinese (Traditional):	(書的)卷首插畫
Czech:	titulní obrázek, *rytina (v knize)
Danish:	titelbillede
Dutch:	titelplaat
Estonian:	frontispiss
Finnish:	frontespiisi
French:	frontispice
German:	das Titelbild
Greek:	εικόνα στην αρχή βιβλίου
Hungarian:	címkép
Icelandic:	mynd fremst í bók
Indonesian:	gambar depan
Italian:	frontespizio

Japanese:	口絵
Korean:	책의 첫 장에 넣는 삽화 등의 그림
Latvian:	frontispiss, ilustrācija uz grāmatas prettitullapas
Lithuanian:	frontispisas, iliustracija prieš titulinį lapą
Norwegian:	tittelbilde
Polish:	frontypis
Portuguese (Brazil):	frontispício
Portuguese (Portugal):	frontespício
Romanian:	frontispiciu
Russian:	фронтиспис
Slovak:	frontispice
Slovenian:	naslovna slika
Spanish:	frontispicio
Swedish:	frontespis
Turkish:	kitabın başındaki süslü resimli sayfa

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Frontispiece

Fron"tis*piece\, n. [F. frontispice, LL. frontispicium beginning, front of a church, fr. L. frons front + spicere, specere, to look at, view: cf. It. frontispizio. See Front and Spy.] The part which first meets the eye; as: (a) (Arch.) The principal front of a building. [Obs. or R.] (b) An ornamental figure or illustration fronting the first page, or titlepage, of a book; formerly, the titlepage itself.

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