frond 
frond (frond), M. f= Sp. fronde = It. fronde, 
fronda, < L. frniis (fr<m<1-), OL. pi. frundes, a 
leafy branch, a green bough, foliage, a garland 
of leaves.] 1. In hot. : (at; As used by Lin- 
neus, a leaf, especially the leaf of a palm or 
fern, (b) Now, specifically, a leaf of a fern or 
other cryptogam, the thallus of a lichen, or 
any other leaf-like expansion which includes 
both stem and foliage, as the disk of Lemnn. 
2. In zool., the foliaceous or leaf-like ex- 
pansion of certain animal organisms, as of va- 
rious polyzoans and actinozoans, which resem- 
ble plants in the mode of growth of the polyp- 
stock. 
frondage (fron'daj), . [< frond + -age.] 
Fronds collectively. 
The vastuess of the mile-broad and mile-high masses of 
frondage, their impenetrability, . . . combine to produce 
the conception of a creative force that appalls. 
Harper's Mag., LXXVII. 336. 
frondation (fron-da'shon), n. [< L. fronda- 
tio(n-), a stripping off of leaves, (frons (frond-), 
a leafy branch: see frond.] The act of strip- 
ping trees of leaves or branches. [Bare.] 
Frondation, or the taking off some of the luxuriant 
branches and sprayes of ... trees, ... is a kind of prun- 
ing. Eixlyn, Sylva, xxxi. 
Fronde (frond), n. [P., lit. a sling; with irreg. 
inserted r, < OF. fonde = Pr. fonda, fronda = 
Sp. honda=Pg.funda = It.funda, < L.funda, a 
sling; cf. Gr. o<t>fv66vri, a sling.] In French hist., 
the name of a party which during the minor- 
ity of Louis XIV. waged civil war against the 
court party, on account of the humiliations in- 
flicted on the high nobility and the heavy fiscal 
impositions laid on the people. The movement 
began with the resistance of the Parliament of Paris to 
the measures of the minister Mazarin, and was sarcasti- 
cally called by one of his supporters there "the war of 
the fronde," in allusion to the use of the sling then com- 
mon among the street-boys of Paris. The contest con 
tinued from 1848 to 1652, during which Mazarin was driven 
from power, but soon restored. The opposition to him 
had degenerated into a course of selfish intrigue and party 
strife, whence the \\timefrondeur became a term of politi- 
cal reproach. 
fronded (fron'ded), a. [< frond + -erf2.] Hav- 
ing fronds. 
I know not where His islands lift 
Their fronded palms in air. 
W hitl.it r, The Eternal Goodness. 
frondent (fron'dent), a. [= Pg. frondente, < L. 
fronden(t-)s, ppr. offrondere, have or put forth 
leaves, be leafy, <frons (frond-), a leafy branch: 
see frond.] Leafy. 
I, Phoebus tree, still frondent, flourishing, 
Not bald, nor grisled, verdant as the spring. 
Owen, Epigrams. 
Near before us is Versailles, New and Old ; with that 
broad, frondent Avenue de Versailles between, stately, 
frondent, broad, three hundred feet as men reckon, with 
its four rows of elms. Carlyle, French Rev., I. vii. 6. 
frondesce (fron-des'), v. i. ; pret. and pp. fron- 
desced, ppr. frondescing. [< L. frondescere, be- 
come leafy, put forth leaves, inceptive of fron- 
dere, have or put forth leaves : see frondent.] 
To unfold or develop leaves, as plants. 
frondescence (fron-des 'ens), n. [< frondes- 
cen(t) + -ce.] In bot. : (a) The period 'or state 
of coming into leaf, (ft) The substitution of 
leaves for other organs ; phyllody. (c) Leaf age; 
foliage. 
The cane fields are broad sheets of beautiful gold-green ; 
and nearly as bright are the masses of pomme-cannelle 
frondescence, the groves of lemon and orange. 
Harper's Mag., LXXVII. 21. 
frondescent (fron-des'ent), a. [= F. frondes- 
cent = Sp.frondescente,"< L. frondescen(t-)s, ppr. 
of. frondescere, put forth leaves: see frondesce.] 
Bursting or having the appearance of bursting 
into leaf. 
frondeur (frou-der'), n. [F., lit. a slinger, < 
fronder, sling, throw, fling, fig. carp at, rail at, 
find fault with, < fronde, a sling: see Fronde.] 
1. In French hist., a member of the Fronde. 
Hence 2. An opponent of a party in power ; 
a member of the opposition. 
frondiferous (fron-dif 'e-rus), a. [= F. frondi- 
fere = Sp. frondifero' = Pg. It. frondifero, < 
L. frondifer, < frons (frond-), a leafy branch, 
foliage (see frond), + ferre = E. bear 1 .] Pro- 
ducing fronds. 
frondiform (fron'di-form), . [< L. frons 
(frond-), a leafy branch (see frond), + forma, 
form.] Resembling a frond, as of a fern ; hav- 
ing stem and leaves fused in one. 
frondiparous (fron-dip'a-rus), a. [< L. frons 
(frond-), a leafy branch (see frond), + parere. 
produce.] In bot., noting a plant affected by 
the monstrosity of producing leaves instead of 
fruit. Imp. Diet. 
2388 
Frondipora (fron-dip'o-ra), . [NL., < L. 
frons (frond-), a leafy branch (see frond), + 
porus, a pore.] The typical genus of the fam- 
ily Frondiporida'. Oken. 
Frondiporidae (fron-di-por'i-de), n. pi. [NL., 
< Frondipora + -idai.] A family of cyclosto- 
matous gymnolsematous polyzoans. 
frondlet (frond'let), w. [< frond + -let.] A 
small frond. 
frondose (fron'dos), a. [< L. frondosus, OL. 
frundosus, leafy, < frons (frond-), aleafy branch, 
foliage: see frond.] 1. In cryptogamic bot.: 
frond; folfaceous. (ft) In Hepatictf, not hav- 
ing a leafy stem ; thalloid. (c) Bearing fronds ; 
frondiferous. 2. In zool., same as foliaceous. 
frondosely (fron'dos-li), adv. In a frond-like 
manner. 
Thallus frondosely dilated. Encyc. Brit., XIV. 561. 
front 
Cornhill and Gracechurch Street had dressed their fronts 
in scarlet and crimson, in arras and tapestry, and the rich 
carpet-work from Persia and the East. 
Fronde, Sketches, p. 174. 
5. Position or place directly ahead, or before 
the face or that part of anything which is re- 
garded as the face ; position in or toward that 
part to which one's view or course is directed: 
used chiefly in the phrases in front and in front 
of: as, right in front o/them stood a lion. 
Cannon in front o/them 
Volley'd and thunder'd. 
Tennyson, Charge of the Light Brigade. 
Specifically, in a theater and the like (a) The part near- 
est the stage or platform : as, to occupy seats infnmi. 
The seats in front were reserved for the friends of the 
girl who was about to leave them. 
C. E. Norton, Travel and Study in Italy, p. 44. 
(b) The part before the actors or speakers ; the auditorium : 
as, the stage manager was in front (that is, not on the stage, 
but in the auditorium). 
frondous (fron'dus), a. [< L. frondosus: see 
frondose.] Same as frondose. 
frons (fronz), n. ; pi. frontes (fron'tez). [L.. the 
forehead, brow, front: see front.] The fore- 6. A sort of half -wig worn by women with a 
head. 
Charles Mathews, who was in front, went behind and 
said, "Buckstone, you push this piece." 
Lester Wallack, Memories. 
, 
conch., that part of a univalve shell presenting when the 
aperture Is toward the observer, (a) In entom. , generally, 
the anterior part of the epicranium, or upper part of the 
head, immediately back of the epistoma or clypeus when 
this is present. The term is somewhat loosely used, and 
varies In its application with different orders. In Hyme- 
noptera, Lepidoptera, and Neuroptera the frons lies in 
front of the antenna:, and partly between the eyes ; but 
in Coleoptera and Hemiptera the antennee are often in- 
serted at the sides of the frons, which is then divided by 
a more or less imaginary line from the vertex or crown. 
Miss Knag, suddenly becoming convulsive, and making 
an effort to tear her/ron* off. 
Dickens, Nicholas Nickleby, xviii. 
To look out on the week-day world from under a crisp 
and glossy front would be to introduce a most dream- 
like and unpleasant confusion between the sacred and the 
secular. George Eliot, Mill on the Floss, i. 7. 
The Graces wear fronts the Muse thins to a spinster. 
Lowell, In the Half- Way House. 
7. Same as shirt-front and dicky" 2 , 3. 8. One 
In the Diptera the frons is the part above the antennw, of the surfaces of a diatom frustule marked by 
the part below them being called the face. Frons alta, ii,,. i;,,,. nf i,,,i,-t M,-., r,f tho t >.,|.-,.^ /};<, 
a high forehead : a phrase used to signify that the fore- C ? e ol . tne * wo , y alves > as dis- 
head is more than one third of the total length of the tinguished from the side, which is the surface 
face. Frons brevis, a low forehead : a phrase used to formed of a single valve. 9. Eccles., same as 
signify that the forehead is less than one third of the total frontal, 5 (a), 
length of the face. Frons prqportlonata, a proportion- ' 
ate forehead : a phrase signifying that -the forehead is one 
third of the total length of the face. 
front (frunt), n. and a. [< ME. front, frunt, 
frount, < OF. front, frunt, F. front = Pr. front 
= OSp. fronte, fruente, Sp. /rente = Pg. It. 
A front for the autar of red and green saten of Bruges. 
Quoted in Archctologia, XXXVIII. 362. 
Bastioned front (milit.), two half-bastions and a curtain. 
False front, a front, in sense 6. Front-cut mower. 
See mower. Front of a wave. See wave-front. In 
= wop. . jrome, jrueme, op jrenie = rg. n. front of See def . 5 ._ pen front, the arrangement of 
fronte, < L. frons (front-), the forehead, brow, a blast-furnace having a fore hearth. The front(m>7i.), 
front, the fore part, the outside, appearance, tn .e most advanced position ; the plac 
etc.; supposed to represent an orig*b)iruvan<~, * tiona ^ are ":?. rrie( ? on ; henc , e ' "s 1 "'" 
< *bhru = Skt. bhru = E. brow.] 1 n. 1. The thought, 1 ^ X enterpri8e ' 
forehead ; in technical use, the frons. 
Thei [giants] ben hidonse for to loke upon ; and the! han 
but on eye, and that is in the myddylle of the Front. 
Mandeville, Travels, p. 203. 
See what a grace was seated on his brow : 
Hyperion's curls, the front of Jove himself. 
Shak., Hamlet, Hi. 4. 
They found the stately horse, . . . and she 
Kiss'd the white star upon his noble front. 
Tennyson, Geraint. 
2. The forehead or face as expressive of char- 
acter, temper, or disposition; characteristic 
facial appearance. 
Norton, from Daniel and Ostrcea sprung, 
Bless'd with his father's front and mother's tongue, 
Hung silent down his never-blushing head. 
Pope, Dunciad, ii. 416. 
I placed thee as a guard to the rich blossoms of my 
daughter's beauty I thought that dragon's/roni of thine 
would cry aloof to the sons of gallantry steel traps and 
spring gnns seemed writ in every wrinkle of it. 
Sheridan, The Duenna, 1. 3. 
Hence 3. Manner of facing or opposing ; atti- 
tude or bearing when confronted with any- 
thing, as in meeting a foe, a threatened danger, 
or an accuser: as, to put on a bold front; to 
await the enemy with a calm /rent. Sometimes 
used in the sense of cool assurance or impu- 
dence. 
Do what I enjoin you. No disputing 
Of niy prerogative with & front or frown. 
B. Jonson, New Inn, ii. 2. 
And He, their leader, wore in sheath his sword, 
And offered peaceful front and open hand. 
Scott, Don Roderick, st. 37. 
In my long-suffering and strength to meet 
With equal front the direst shafts of fate. 
the most advanced position ; the place where active oper- 
-atively, the most ad- 
i, pursuit, system of 
'ii-ht . etc. 
They were going to the front, the one to find his regi- 
ment, the other to look for those who needed his assis- 
tance. 0. W. Holmes, Old Vol. of Life, p. 43. 
The height of my ambition was to go to the front after 
a battle. L. M. Alcott, Hospital Sketches, p. 90. 
To come to the front, to come to the foremost or most 
conspicuous place ; attain distinction. 
Writers in France who have really the stuff of the ro- 
mancer in them come to the front and to fame more quick- 
ly than in England. Fortnightly Rev., N. S., XL. 34. 
The theologians were a body of men whose functions 
had been to some extent usurped by the canonists, and 
who now for some years, under Tudor and Puritan and 
Laudian influences, were to come to the front. 
Stubbi, Medieval and Modern Hist., p. 820. 
II. a. 1. Relating to the front or face; fron- 
tal. 2. Having a position in the front ; fore- 
most: as, the front steps. 
She glares in balls, front boxes, and the Ring, 
A vain, unquiet, glitt'ring, wretched thing ! 
Pope, Epistle to Miss Blount. 
The rear ranks of the English kept the/ron( ranks sup- 
plied with a constant succession of loaded muskets. 
Macatday, Lord Clive. 
Front bench. See bench. Front center. Seecenteri, 
r>. Front door, the main entrance-door of a house. 
The front-door is on the street. Some keep it always 
open ; some keep it latched ; some, locked ; some, bolted 
with a chain that will let you peep in, but not get in; 
and some nail it up, so that nothing can pass its thresh- 
old. This front-door leads into a passage, which opens 
into an ante-room, and this into the interior apartments. 
0. W. Holmes, Autocrat, vi. 
Front face (7(.), that side of a hollow square of troops, 
or of a camp, which lies toward the enemy. 
They rushed on to the camp, breaking through the front- 
face, and killing a number of men as they passed over 
them. E. Sartorius, In the Soudan, p. 55. 
iowiJ, Prometheus. front (frunt ) ( ^ [<y roM j iW . Cf. affront, can- 
't. The part or side of anything which seems to front.] I. trans. 1. To meet face to face; 
look out or to be directed forward ; the most for- come into the presence of ; confront. 
ward part or surface : as, the front of a house ; 
the front of an army. 
Frownt or frunt of a chirche, or other howsys, frontispi- 
cium. Prompt. Pan., p. 181. 
Our custom is both to place it [the Lord's prayer] in the 
front of our prayers as a guide, and to add it in the end 
of some principal limbs or parts as a complement. 
Hooker, Eccles. Polity, v. 35. 
My mate in empire, 
Friend and companion in the /rout of war. 
Shak., A. and C., v. 1. 
And Enid, but to please her husband's eye, 
Who first had found and loved her in a state 
Of broken fortunes, daily fronted him 
In some fresh splendour. Tennyson, Geraint. 
When we front its mass of homilies and scriptural ver- 
sions and saints' lives and grammar and lesson-books, they 
tell us of a clergy quickened to a new desire for know- 
ledge, and of a like quickening of educational zeal among 
the people at large. J. R. Green, Conq. of Eng., p. 285. 
2. To oppose face to face ; oppose directly; en- 
counter. 
