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frontal

.
Searchable Lemmata: fruntel (AF), frontale (L), frountel (ME), frontale (OScots), frontal (MdE).
Alternate Forms: ffrontelcloþis, frontal, frontel, frontell, frontellum, frontellus, frountell, frounteylle, fruntelle, fruntels.

    Definitions and Defining Citations:

1a(n.) Headgear; something worn on the head (Latin frontale, from frons (q.v.) 'brow'). As a garment, most often used to refer to a headband or frontlet; an ornament worn on the forehead (usually described as being worn by women).(circa 1325 - post 1610)
1. Þe bout & þe barbet wyþ frountel shule feȜe. Poetic. [MED Lord þat lenest ((Hrl 2253) 31) circa 1325]
2. Scho was ... fayre ... With a frountell endent With perle of þe Oryent. Heroic, Poetic, Romance. [MED Degrev. ((Thrn) 665) circa 1440]
3. pro factur' ij frontalia (sic) de lawne (cf. Misc. LChamb. 33 p. 8: for making ij forhed clothes of lawne) Accounts. [DMLBS Ac. LChamb. (55 f. 23) 1561]
c.f.: frontlet
AF, L, ME, MdE.
Sex: Male, Female    Use: n/a    Ceremonial: No
Body Parts: Head.
1b(n.) Headgear; front of a helmet.(circa 1180)
1. verz healmes en lur testes, D'or les fruntels e les flurs [AND Ch Guill (223) circa 1166/1200]
AF.
Sex: Male    Use: Military    Status: n/a    Rank: n/a    Ceremonial: No
Body Parts: Head.
1c(n.) ; part of the gear for a horse's head; most likely a front-stall (part of the bridle going over the head), or a piece of armour. Still current in French as frontail, fronteau, though not attested for Anglo-French in the AND.(circa 950)
1. frontale, i. ornamenta equorum Gloss. [DMLBS GlH (F 790) 900/999]
L.
Sex: N/A    Ceremonial: No
Body Parts: Head.
3(n.) Furnishing; a decorative cover for an altar, normally covering the entire front of the altar, or whatever parts may be seen by the congregation. Often embroidered and decorated with ornamental borders, though some examples were actually made of wood or metal rather than cloth. Some frontals hang only partway down over the front of the altar, and a secondary cloth or valance (the superfrontal, q.v.) drops the rest of the way to the floor.(circa 1255 still in current use)
1. Item, autres divers garnementz des armes le dit Pieres, ovek les alettes garniz & frettez de perles ... Item, une grosse garnette, e un saphir petit sur mesme le baston ... Item, sur un autre baston, deux rubiz, deux saphirs, un gernette, un cristal ... Item, deux peires de jambers de feer, ventz et noveauz ... Item, un autre chesible, tunicle, dalmaticle, dosser frontal de un drap de vert, poudré de oiseaus & de poissons d’or Accounts. [AND Foedera (ii 203) post 1255]
2. unum frontale magnum cum mappa adjunctum et aliud strictum ejusdem panni et facture, que magno altari principalibus festis apponuntur, item aliud frontale cum capitibus hominum et diversis bestiis de aurifragio et serico diverso consutum et nobile mappa adjunctum Historic. [DMLBS WHITTLESEY (167) ante 1321]
3. In uno frounteylle pro summo altari [MED Doc.Coldingham in Raine N.Dur. (p.lxxviii) 1376]
4. frontale etiam de viridi vellveto cum armis principis in quodam rosario aureo embroudato Historic. [DMLBS G.S. Alb. (III 380) circa 1349/1401]
5. tria fruntalia pro altari dicte capelle, duo tualle de panno lineo, tria ridella de albo tartaryn cum cordulis Accounts. [DMLBS DC Sal. (HMC) (350) 1407]
6. [p. 229] ... (PROME item 630) vii copes de velvet cremosy, sengle et nient garnisez, pris le pece .xlvi. s. .viij. d.; xvi.li .vi. s. .viij. d. ... (645) i cope de chamelet rouge d’or, les orfreys de velvet bloy, pris .xlvi. s. .viij. d. ... (662) Chesible de velvet vert playn, ovec III aubes, les orfreis enbroudés ovec signes. Item, II autr' clothes, I frountell de tarterin vert, II curteynes raiés de tarterin, ovec I stole, II phanons ... (668) Item, i chesible de damask bloy, les orfreis de velvet rouge et noier enbroudes, ovec .i. aube, et .i. amyte, pris .xxxvi. s. .viij. d. ... (675) Item, .viij. cropers de velvet d'or rouge, frengez et usez, et chescun croper de .vi. hangers, pris .iiij.li. ... (678) Item, .xi. horshouses de rouge drap, pris le pece .xx. d.; .xviij. s. .iiij. d. ... (679) Item, .vij. horshouses de rouge drap, pris le pece .vi. s. .viij. d.; .xlvi. s. .viij. d. ... [p. 230] ... i lite de soy baudekyn, blanc vert & glauc pale ... [p. 231] ... III carpettz de lether ... ii pair’ de draps champayn fyn ... Item, i esparver palez de tarterin vert, blanc & vermaille Legal. [LexP PROME (Hen. VI: Parl. of Oct. 1423, items 630+) 1423]
7. For settyng an of ffrontelcloþis. ... For iiij owbe gerdelys, iij d. Accounts. [MED *Mun.B.Bridgewater (14) 1428]
8. [8] ... je devise ... une paire de vestimentz de satyn bleu et noir palee et ribane d’ore entre les palez ... c’est assavoir chesible, aube ... une chesible, ij tonicles, iij aubes ... fruntel et ij napes pur icelle ... une mantelle de perce blew furré de gray ... Les iij paires vestimentz ferialez, l’un bleu, l’autre blanc et la tierce drape esteignez ... ij touaillez frengés pur les ditz suytz de vermaille et bleu ... une frounte de satin rouge frengez ... [11] ... un hopeland linez ové bokeramnoir Accounts. [AND Reg Chich (ii 8-11) 1414/1443]
9. Fruntelle of an awtere: Frontellus. Gloss. [MED PParv. ((Hrl 221) 181) 1440]
10. j pendikill befor the alter of quhyt sylk champit with ane frontall of the samyn. Accounts. [DOST Misc. Maitl. C. (III. 198) circa 1450]
c.f.: frount
AF, L, ME, MdE, OScots.
Sex: N/A    Use: Ecclesiastical    Ceremonial: Yes
Body Parts: N/A.

    Etymological Evidence:

Definite, Old French/Anglo-French frontel and Latin frontale (Late L, plural in classical L; originally meaning 'pertaining to the brow, front' < Latin frons). The OED adds: 'OF. had also the form frontal (still preserved in some senses); in mod.F., by confusion of suffixes, frontail and fronteau (cf. med.L. frontellum in Promp. Parv.) are used in various specific applications of the general sense' [OED, 2nd ed. (1989), 'frontal, n.']. In British L, frontale is first applied to the head trappings for a horse (10th-century gloss) and is only used to describe a woman's frontlet from 1561.
WF:
Etym Cog: frontel (OF).
References:
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