overwordExplorer
ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

frontispiece.

An illustration that is on the page before the title page of a book, a section of one, or a magazine.

12 characters3 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈfɹʌn.tɪsˌpiːs/UK/ˈfɹɒn.tɪsˌpiːs/UK/ˈfɹʌn.tɪsˌpis/US/ˈfɹɑn.tɪsˌpis/US
  1. An illustration that is on the page before the title page of a book, a section of one, or a magazine.

  2. The title page of a book.

    archaic
  3. A façade, especially an ornamental one.

  4. A small ornamental pediment, especially at the top of a window or door.

  5. A person's face.

    archaic · humorous · slang
Where this word comes from

From Middle French frontispice, from Italian frontespizio or Medieval Latin frontispicium, from Latin frōns (“forehead”, oblique stem in front-) + -spic- (“to watch”, combining form of speciō) + -ium. Spelling altered due to folk etymology, influenced by piece.

verb/ˈfɹʌn.tɪsˌpiːs/UK/ˈfɹɒn.tɪsˌpiːs/UK/ˈfɹʌn.tɪsˌpis/US/ˈfɹɑn.tɪsˌpis/US
  1. To supply with a frontispiece.

    rare · transitive
    The novel was frontispieced with a portrait of the author.
Where this word comes from

From Middle French frontispice, from Italian frontespizio or Medieval Latin frontispicium, from Latin frōns (“forehead”, oblique stem in front-) + -spic- (“to watch”, combining form of speciō) + -ium. Spelling altered due to folk etymology, influenced by piece.

FROM WORD TO NAME

Try it on your idea.

frontispiece has 12 characters. Say it out loud, try it alongside a description of your project, and see whether its meaning fits what you want to create.

frontispiece studiofrontispiece workshello, frontispiece

These are naming prompts. Meanings and pronunciation can vary; existing brand and domain uses have not been checked.

Explore the name generator

A word with a source.

Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.