Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. An international border.
- n. The area along an international border.
- n. A region just beyond or at the edge of a settled area.
- n. An undeveloped area or field for discovery or research: theories on the frontier of astrophysics.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. That part of a country which fronts or faces another country; the confines or extreme part of a country bordering on another country; the marches; the border.
- n. That part of a country which forms the border of its settled or inhabited regions: as (before the settlement of the Pacific coast), the western frontier of the United States.
- n. A fort; a fortification.
- n. The front or bordering part of anything, as the forehead.
- n. Antagonistic or insolent bearing or aspect. [The sense of the word in the following passage is disputed.
- n. Synonyms Border, Confine, etc. See boundary.
- Of or pertaining to a frontier; lying on the border or exterior part; bordering: as, a frontier town.
- Fronting; opposite.
- To form or constitute a frontier; possess territories bordering on or constituting a frontier: with on or upon.
- To place on the frontier; border.
Wiktionary
- n. That part of a country which fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region; the marches; the border, confine, or extreme part of a country, bordering on another country; the border of the settled and cultivated part of a country; as, the frontier of civilization.
- adj. Lying on the exterior part; bordering; conterminous.
- adj. Of or relating to a frontier.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. That part of a country which fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region; the marches; the border, confine, or extreme part of a country, bordering on another country; the border of the settled and cultivated part of a country.
- n. (Fort.), obsolete An outwork.
- adj. Lying on the exterior part; bordering; conterminous.
- adj. Of or relating to a frontier.
- v. obsolete To constitute or form a frontier; to have a frontier; -- with on.
WordNet 3.0
- n. an undeveloped field of study; a topic inviting research and development
- n. a wilderness at the edge of a settled area of a country
- n. an international boundary or the area (often fortified) immediately inside the boundary
Etymologies
- From Old French fronter (whence Modern French frontière), from front. (Wiktionary)
- Middle English frountier, from Old French frontier, from front, forehead, front; see front. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Serbia and Montenegro_: In the north of the Adriatic, _the entire coast, commencing from the Bay of Volosca_ on the frontier of Istria as far as the _northern frontier_ of Dalmatia, including the whole of the coast-line now belonging to Hungary, the entire coast of Croatia, the port of Fiume and the small harbours of Novi and Carlopago, as also the islands of Velia, Pervicchio, Gregorio, Goli and Arbe.”
“About two miles from the German frontier (_frontier_ just here as well as front) an isolated hill rises out of the Lorraine meadows.”
“The IMF groups 11 sub-Saharan economies into what it calls "frontier markets" that have natural resources, viable financial markets, and relative political stability.”
Voice of America: IMF: Rising Prices Threaten African Economic Recovery
“With what you call the frontier markets, there is some interest again," he said.”
The Wall Street Journal: 'Frontier' Markets Ahead For Currency Investors?
“The term frontier is a key word in the American lexicon, since it symbolizes the vigor and adaptability of the American people and their culture.”
Between Winds and Clouds: The Making of Yunnan (Second Century BCE to Twentieth Century CE)
“Convenience of crossing the frontier is another, your automobile is another, your future plans for living in México is another, etc., etc.”
“And so he's launched what they call a frontier strategy, and that is, to find and eliminate the extremists and deliver better governance and economic opportunity.”
“Our road was along the line of the Kuban, the river separating Russia from Circassia; for though the Emperor includes the latter country among "all the Russias," the frontier is as distinctly traced as that of Persia or China.”
“Western Europe was up 2. 6%, but where we really saw the boost was in what we call frontier Europe.”
“So some good strength in what we call frontier Europe.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘frontier’.
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Linda(G4)
Accurate, address, afford, alert, analyze, ancestor, annual, apparent, arena, arrest, ascend, assist and 126 more...
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EU Buzz - ALL words and expressions
A combined list of
1. EU Buzz - single words
2. EU Buzz - collocations
3. EU Buzz - the 100 most active
collocation constituentsabsorption capacity, absorption rate, acceding country, accession candidate, accession countries, accession country, accession criteria, accession cycle, accession negotia..., accession partner..., accession priorities, accession treaty and 2650 more...
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Brand Theft Auto
A marque list for cars--models or companies who've used common words as their name.
explorer, navigator, frontier, mustang, quest, cougar, sidekick, legend, legacy, ranger, voyager, civic and 266 more...
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EU - Eurovoc - politics
absolute majority, absolute monarchy, abstentionism, access to informa..., acquisition of arms, action brought be..., action for annulment, action to establi..., ad hoc committee, adjournment, adjournment motion, administration and 965 more...
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Thresholds
we are all just passing through.
(boundaries, portals and liminal spaces/times)cockcrow, interface, thin line, portal, postern, littoral, portico, porch, stoop, strand, liminal, limen and 304 more...
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EU - Eurovoc - international relations
ABM Agreement, accession to a co..., accession to a tr..., accession to an a..., achievement of peace, ACP-EC Convention, advanced technolo..., aerospace industry, African organisation, aggression, agreement, agricultural coop... and 851 more...
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Math Words
a list of my favorite math words
ruler function, Cauchy sequence, accumulation point, adherent point, isolated point, Dirichlet function, limit, Banach-Tarski par..., closure, dense, frontier, boundary and 21 more...
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big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6689 more...
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colleen's words
yellow, green, pie, blue, fur, people, incense, book, brown, avuncular, mountain, fog and 1316 more...
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GRE AWA
escalating, vehement, vehemence, hostility, paparazzi, regime, irrespective, scoop, exaggerated, overblown, unfetter, scrupulous and 272 more...
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Logophile, The Back Page (AKA: just c...
node, nexus, locus, toroidal, ivory, kestrel, lyre, muscat, caldera, tapestry, codex, paragon and 103 more...
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jagosaurus's favorites
Words I like mostly because of the way they sound and feel.
ticonderoga, petulance, snark, estimable, chickahominy, feline, gezellig, gneiss, shit, willy-nilly, shelter, coda and 366 more...
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Basic English Vocabulary
Very basic words for ESL students.
a, abandon, ability, able, abortion, about, above, abroad, absence, absolute, absolutely, absorb and 4334 more...
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Misc. Words.
Words I like to use, words I like but may forget.
corrosion, astonish, solace, ferment, continuum, kinesthetic, permeate, repose, caprice, cardinal, discourse, surrender and 610 more...
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the catch-all
inveigle, frontier, invective, quizzical, merit, proficiency, eleemosynary, ham-handed, circumspect, epergne, cobble, industriousness and 201 more...
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my dictionary
able, abnormally, abroad, absent, abstract, acceptable, acceptance, access, accessible, accession, according to, account and 4551 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for frontier.

oroboros Clever crossword clue "back to front?" for "ier" entry. May 1, 2013