English
frontcountryfrontcountry
From front + country, coined to contrast with backcountry.
A compound of front + country
Latin frōns ‘forehead’
Old French front ‘forehead’
Middle English front
English front
Proto-Italic *komteros ‘the other of the two who meet, opposite’
…
Latin contrā ‘against’
Vulgar Latin *(terra) contrāta ‘facing land’
Old French contree ‘country’
Middle English contre ‘a region’
English country
The story
From front + country, coined to contrast with backcountry.
Today it means
noun An area of the countryside that is relatively accessible rather than remote.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / frontcountry
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