frontal

UK: /ˈfrʌnt^əl/ US: /ˈfrʌntəl/ ,(frun′tl)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

fron•tal /ˈfrʌntəl/   adj. [before a noun]

1. of, in, or at the front:
   a frontal view.

front•al•ly, adv. 

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

fron•tal  (frun′tl), adj. 

1. of, in, or at the front:
   a frontal view; frontal attack.
2. [Anat.]
   • Anatomy of, pertaining to, or situated near the forehead or the frontal bone.
   • Anatomy coronal (def. 4c).
3. Meteorology of or pertaining to the division between dissimilar air masses:
   frontal zone; frontal surface.
4. Fine Art
   • exhibiting frontality.
   • parallel to the surface in the pictorial arts or seen from the front view in sculpture:
     the frontal plane.

n. 

5. Religion [Eccles.] a movable cover or hanging for the front of an altar.
6. Clothing frontlet (def. 1).
7. Anatomy any of several parts in the frontal region, esp. the frontal bone.

• Old French frontel. See front, -al¹
• Late Latin frontālis (Neo-Latin, in anatomy sense); replacing Middle English frountel
• 1275–1325

fron′tal•ly, adv. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

frontal / ˈfrʌnt^əl/ adjective

1. of, at, or in the front
2. of or relating to the forehead

noun

1. a decorative hanging for the front of an altar
2. See frontal lobe
3. another name for frontlet1

Etymology: 14th Century (in the sense: adornment for forehead, altar cloth): via Old French frontel, from Latin frontālia (pl) ornament worn on forehead, frontellum altar cloth, both from frōns forehead, front

ˈfrontally adverb