frontal

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈfɹʌn.təl/, /ˈfɹʌn.tl̩/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈfɹʌn.tl̩/, /ˈfɹʌn.l̩/
• Rhymes: -ʌntəl, -ʌnəl

Borrowed from New Latin frontālis, from frons (“the forehead, brow, front”) +‎ -ālis (“-al”, adjectival suffix), equivalent to front +‎ -al; cognate of French frontal. Doublet of frontalis.

frontal (not comparable)

1. Of, relating to, directed toward, or situated at the front.
   1. Directed against the front or at the main point or issue.

      Synonym: direct

      a frontal attack

2. (anatomy) Of or relating to the forehead or frontal bone.
3. (anatomy) Parallel to the main axis of the body and at right angles to the sagittal plane.
4. (zootomy) Any of the scales of a reptile that lie in the general region of the forehead, more specifically between the eyes and to the anterior of this area.
5. (meteorology) Of or relating to a weather front.

• (humorous, about nudity) backal, sidal

frontal (plural frontals)

1. (anatomy) Ellipsis of frontal bone.

From Middle English frountel, from Old French frontel, from Latin frontāle (“a frontlet, metal band for the forehead”).

frontal (plural frontals)

2. (Christianity) A decorative drapery covering the front of an altar.

   Synonyms: antependium, forecloth

   • 1969, David G. Irwin, The Visual Arts, Taste and Criticism, page 27:

     Even the mantelpiece is adorned with a totally unfunctional tasselled valance rather like an altar frontal.

3. (architecture) The façade of a building.

• “frontal”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “frontal”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

From front +‎ -al, or borrowed from Medieval Latin frontālis (“frontal”), from Latin frōns.

• IPA^(key): (Central) [fɾunˈtal]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Valencia) [fɾonˈtal]
• Rhymes: -al

frontal m or f (masculine and feminine plural frontals)

1. frontal

• lòbul frontal

frontal m (plural frontals)

1. frontal bone

• os frontal

• front

• “frontal” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
• “frontal”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “frontal”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007

Borrowed from French frontal.

frontal

1. frontal

• Mirjejev, V. A., Usejinov, S. M. (2002) Ukrajinsʹko-krymsʹkotatarsʹkyj slovnyk [Ukrainian – Crimean Tatar Dictionary]‎^[1], Simferopol: Dolya, →ISBN

From front +‎ -al; see also Medieval Latin frontalis, from Latin frōns, as well as fronteau and frontail.

• IPA^(key): /fʁɔ̃.tal/

• Audio:

  (file)

frontal (feminine frontale, masculine plural frontaux, feminine plural frontales)

1. (relational) forehead; frontal

• collision frontale
• lobe frontal
• os frontal

• “frontal”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

• frôlant, ronflât

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese frontal, a learned borrowing from Medieval Latin frontalis (“frontal”), from Latin frons.

• IPA^(key): /fɾonˈtal/ [fɾon̪ˈt̪ɑɫ]
• Rhymes: -al

frontal m or f (plural frontais)

1. frontal

frontal m (plural frontais)

1. (anatomy) the frontal bone
2. (Christianity) frontal (a decorative drapery covering the front of an altar.)
3. (architecture) frontal (the façade of a building.)

• Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “frontal”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “frontal”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “frontal”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “frontal”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “frontal”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

• IPA^(key): /fʁɔnˈtaːl/
• Rhymes: -aːl

• Audio:

  (file)

frontal (strong nominative masculine singular frontaler, not comparable)

1. frontal

frontal

1. head-on

• “frontal” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “frontal” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon

From fronte (“front”) +‎ -al (“of or relating to”), or borrowed from Medieval Latin frontālis (“frontal”), from Latin frōns.

• Rhymes: (Portugal) -al, (Brazil) -aw
• Hyphenation: fron‧tal

frontal m or f (plural frontais)

1. frontal

   Synonyms: fronteiro, anterior

   Antonyms: traseiro, posterior

• frontalmente

frontal m (plural frontais)

1. frontal bone

• osso

• crânio

• occipital, parietal, temporal, esfenoide, etmoide

Borrowed from French frontal.

frontal m or n (feminine singular frontală, masculine plural frontali, feminine and neuter plural frontale)

1. frontal

Borrowed from Medieval Latin frontālis (“frontal”), from Latin frōns.

• IPA^(key): /fɾonˈtal/ [fɾõn̪ˈt̪al]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: fron‧tal

frontal m or f (masculine and feminine plural frontales)

1. frontal

frontal m (plural frontales)

1. frontal bone

   Synonym: hueso frontal

2. frontalis, frontalis muscle

   Synonym: músculo frontal

3. headtorch

• “frontal”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024
• frontal on the Spanish Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^es

frontal (not comparable)

1. (usually in compounds) frontal
2. (anatomy) frontal

• frontalattack
• frontalkollision
• frontallob
• frontalkrock

• frontal in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• frontal in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• frontal in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)