front matter

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

front′ mat′ter, [Print.]

1. Printing all material in a book that precedes the text proper, as the title page, copyright page, table of contents, dedication, and preface. Also called preliminaries. Cf. back matter.

• 1905–10, American.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

front matter noun

1. another name for prelims1