affront

/əfˈɹʌnt/uh-FRUHNT
/əfˈɹʌnt/uh-FRUHNT

Meaningto strike on the forehead; to face down

Common meaning: an insult

‘to, towards (form of ad-)’ + ‘the forehead, the front’ → affront

Journey through time

  1. Latinfrōns, frontis‘the forehead, the front’
  2. Frenchafronter
  3. Middle Englishafrontensource
  4. Englishaffront‘an insult’ · today

af- also in: affixaffirmaffableaffluentaffiliate

front also in: frontalfrontierconfront

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Latin frōns ‘the forehead, the front’.

Did you know: our wording, based on Lewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), entry frōns, p. 783 · dictionary scan

Roots

Related words

confrontfrontalfrontier

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