Dictionary
Thesaurus
Encyclopedia
Translator
Web

frontier

 - 6 dictionary results

fron⋅tier

[fruhn-teer, fron-; also, especially Brit., fruhn-teer]
–noun
1. the part of a country that borders another country; boundary; border.
2. the land or territory that forms the furthest extent of a country's settled or inhabited regions.
3. Often, frontiers.
a. the limit of knowledge or the most advanced achievement in a particular field: the frontiers of physics.
b. an outer limit in a field of endeavor, esp. one in which the opportunities for research and development have not been exploited: the frontiers of space exploration.
4. Mathematics. boundary (def. 2).
–adjective
5. of, pertaining to, or located on the frontier: a frontier town.

Origin:
1350–1400; ME frounter < OF frontier, equiv. to front (in the sense of opposite side; see front ) + -ier -ier 2


fron⋅tier⋅less, adjective
fron⋅tier⋅like, adjective


1. See boundary.

bound⋅a⋅ry

[boun-duh-ree, -dree]
–noun, plural -ries.
1. something that indicates bounds or limits; a limiting or bounding line.
2. Also called frontier. Mathematics. the collection of all points of a given set having the property that every neighborhood of each point contains points in the set and in the complement of the set.
3. Cricket. a hit in which the ball reaches or crosses the boundary line of the field on one or more bounces, counting four runs for the batsman. Compare six (def. 5).

Origin:
1620–30; bound 3 + -ary


1. Boundary, border, frontier share the sense of that which divides one entity or political unit from another. Boundary, in reference to a country, city, state, territory, or the like, most often designates a line on a map: boundaries are shown in red. Occasionally, it also refers to a physical feature that marks the agreed-upon line separating two political units: The Niagara River forms part of the boundary between the United States and Canada. Border is more often used than boundary in direct reference to a political dividing line; it may also refer to the region (of, for instance, a country) adjoining the actual line of demarcation: crossing the Mexican border; border towns along the Rio Grande. Frontier may refer to a political dividing line: crossed the Spanish frontier on Tuesday. It may also denote or describe the portion of a country adjoining its border with another country (towns in the Polish frontier) or, especially in North America, the most remote settled or occupied parts of a country: the frontier towns of the Great Plains. Frontier, especially in the plural, also refers to the most advanced or newest activities in an area of knowledge or practice: the frontiers of nuclear medicine.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To frontier
fron·tier   (frŭn-tîr', frŏn-, frŭn'tîr', frŏn'-)   
n.  
    1. An international border.

    2. The area along an international border.

  1. A region just beyond or at the edge of a settled area.

  2. An undeveloped area or field for discovery or research: theories on the frontier of astrophysics.


[Middle English frountier, from Old French frontier, from front, forehead, front; see front.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

frontier 
c.1400, from O.Fr. fronter, from front "brow" (see front). Originally the front line of an army, sense of "borderland" is first attested 1413. In reference to N.Amer., from 1676; later with 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"]
Frontiersman is from 1782.

boundary 
1626, from Fr., from O.Fr. bodne, from M.L. bodina, butina "boundary, boundary marker" (see bound (n.)), perhaps infl. by M.L. bonnarium "piece of land within a fixed limit."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Legal Dictionary

Main Entry: bound·ary
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural -ar·ies
: a theoretical line that marks the limit of an area of land
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
Cite This Source
Search another word or see frontier on Thesaurus | Reference
FacebookTwitterFollow us: