frontier en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /ˈfɹʌntɪə/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- (US) audio
- /fɹɒnˈtɪə/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- /fɹʌnˈtɪɹ/ (General-American)
- /ˈfɹʌntjə/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- /ˈfɹɒntjə/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- /ˈfɹʌnt͡ʃə/ (obsolete)
- /fɹʌnˈtɪə/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- /fɹɑnˈtɪɹ/ (General-American)
- /ˈfɹɒntɪə/ (Received-Pronunciation)
Etymology
From Middle English frounter, from Old French fronter (whence Modern French frontière), from front.
Meanings
-
The part of a country which borders or faces another country or unsettled region.
For two years the Easterner had been searching for his lost brother, at trading posts and Army forts all along the frontier.
1950, Dorothy M. Johnson, War Shirt; in Indian Country, London: Corgi, 1961, page 107:The demise of “de minimis”, as the exemption is known, is the latest, symbolic reminder to digital darlings that frontiers exist—and that business models built on their absence are in need of a rethink.
2025 September 4, “What the splinternet means for big tech: Unpleasant new trade-offs, for starters”, in The Economist:From time to time the coaches of the Lötschberg Railway itself, which in comfort and décor can rank with the finest in Europe today, travel far from the frontiers of Switzerland on through workings such as these.
1960 December, Cecil J. Allen, “Operating a mountain main line: the Bern-Lötschberg-Simplon: Part One”, in Trains Illustrated, page 743:There were not many passengers, and the journey was uneventful until the frontier was reached at Padang Besar, although an armed escort of Malay police accompanied the train from Alor Star.
1955 April, “Notes and News: A Journey through Thailand”, in Railway Magazine, page 286:But there is also real opposition to Nato expansion - and even to Nato's continued existence after the Cold War. This is a view shared by a very large part of Russia's military and foreign affairs establishment. Educated and trained during the Soviet period, they are still inculcated with notions of super-power military might. It has been painful for these people to see Nato's outer edge creep ever closer to what was once the frontier of the USSR.
2002 November 22, Steven Eke, “Russia's rocky relationship with Nato”, in BBC World Service:the frontier of civilization
Unlike a boundary, which evokes the image of a line on a map and demarcates spheres of political control, the frontier is an area where colonisation is taking place....no authority is recognised as legitimate by all parties or is able to [exercise] undisputed control over the area.
1979, Richard Elphic, Hermann Guilomee (editors), The shaping of South African Society, 1652 - 1820, page 297:
-
The most advanced or recent version of something; the leading edge.
Near-synonyms: vanguard, state of the art
the frontier of solid state electronics
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(obsolete) An outwork of a fortification.
thou hast talk'd. Of sallies and retires, of trenches, tents, Of palisadoes, frontiers, parapets
c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii]:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| frontiers | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
frontierwoman · frontier orbital · frontierism · e-frontier · cyberfrontier · nonfrontier · portfolio frontier · transfrontier · scientific frontier · frontierless · frontier AI · frontiersperson · frontiersman · Pareto frontier · frontier artificial intelligence · frontierswoman · New Frontier · Frontier County · frontierist · efficient frontier · final frontier · last frontier · frontierman · high frontier · frontierlike
Synonyms
marchland · marches · borderland · march · state of the art · vanguard · border
Translations (88)
ae 𐬨𐬀𐬭𐬆𐬰𐬀 (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · de Grenzland (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · fi rajamaa (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · de Grenzgegend (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · de Grenzmark (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · gl fronteira (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · ko 경계 (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · da landegrænse (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · hy սահման (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · id padan (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · hi सीमांचल (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · pl granica (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · ru окра́ина (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · hi सरहद (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · grc ὅρος (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · ru кордо́н (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · lv robeža (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · ru рубе́ж (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · sh grànica (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · sk hranica (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · uk межа́ (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · lv pierobeža (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · da grænse (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · tg сарҳад (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · bg гра́ница (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · et piir (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · de Mark (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · ar حُدُود (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · id sempadan (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · dz ཁྲ་ཡི་ན (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · el σύνορο (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · cs pomezí (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · fa مرز (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · it frontiera (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · cmn 邊疆 /边疆 (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · tg ҳудуд (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · de Grenzgebiet (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · nl landgrens (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · fa سرحد (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · fo landamark (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · io frontiero (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · hi सीमा (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · cmn 邊界 /边界 (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · nn landegrense (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · uk кордо́н (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · sv landgräns (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · lt siena (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · da grænseområde (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · ca frontera (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · es frontera (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · sv gräns (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · fi raja (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · nb landegrense (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · de Grenze (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · pt fronteira (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · sh гра̀ница (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · uk грани́ця (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · sl meja (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · lij confìnn-a (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · mk граница (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · ko 국경 (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · be грані́ца (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · ro frontieră (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · it confine (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · fi rajaseutu (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · cs pohraničí (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · cmn 邊境 /边境 (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · la finis (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · ar حَدّ (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · gan 國界 /国界 (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · hu határ (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · cs hranice (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · cmn 國境 /国境 (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · uk рубі́ж (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · be мяжа́ (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · gel ɘ̄r-kèŋgì (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · oc frontièra (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · ur سَرحَد (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · ru межа́ (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · nl grens (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · ru грани́ца (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · km ជាយដែន (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · cmn 國界 /国界 (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · fr frontière (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · km ទល់ដែន (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · ja 国境 (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · ja 境界 (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region) · dz མཚམས (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region)