frontispiece

[ fruhn-tis-pees, fron- ]

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.

frontispiece

/ ˈfrʌntɪsˌpiːs /

noun

1. an illustration facing the title page of a book
2. the principal façade of a building; front
3. a pediment, esp an ornamented one, over a door, window, etc

Word History and Origins

Origin of frontispiece¹

1590–1600; alteration (conformed to piece ) of earlier frontispice < French < Medieval Latin frontispicium, equivalent to Latin fronti- front + -spicium (combining form representing specere to look at)

Word History and Origins

Origin of frontispiece¹

C16 frontispice , from French, from Late Latin frontispicium façade, inspection of the forehead, from Latin frōns forehead + specere to look at; influenced by piece

Example Sentences

This research will be featured as a frontispiece in the upcoming issue of Advanced Materials and has secured both domestic and international patents.

From Science Daily

After all, even Martin Droeshout’s frontispiece portrait for the First Folio shows a face that looks, to some eyes, like a mask.

From Washington Post

The frontispieces are prints augmented with gouache and colored pencil, which is characteristic of Wolfe’s eclectic approach.

From Washington Post

Recast in vivid color, the frontispiece is enlarged to life-size scale, swapping out a generic female face for a specific one.

From Los Angeles Times

When Wheatley’s “Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral” was published, it included a frontispiece that is believed to have been based on Moorhead’s portrait of her.

From New York Times