Front in Different Languages
Discover 'Front' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Updated on March 6, 2024
The word 'front' carries significant weight in our vocabulary, denoting the forward-facing part of something or the direction of action and progress. Its cultural importance is evident in idioms like 'front and center,' emphasizing visibility and attention. Understanding the translation of 'front' in different languages can provide valuable insights into global perspectives and cultural nuances.
Historically, the 'front lines' have marked the foremost part of an army's position, signifying courage and sacrifice. In language, this term has been adopted to describe the leading edge of various fields, from technology to fashion.
For instance, the French translation of 'front' is 'devant,' reflecting their cultural emphasis on formality and etiquette. In German, it's 'Vorderseite,' which also means 'the front page' in media, highlighting its significance in information dissemination.
Join us as we delve into the translations of 'front' in various languages, offering a fascinating exploration of global culture and language diversity.
Front
Front in Sub-Saharan African Languages
| Afrikaans | voor | ||
| "Voor" is a Dutch word that means "in front of" or "before;" in Afrikaans, it means "front" (noun). | |||
| Amharic | ፊትለፊት | ||
| The word "ፊትለፊት" also means "opposite" or "facing each other" in Amharic. | |||
| Hausa | gaba | ||
| The Hausa word 'gaba' also means 'future', suggesting a conceptual link between the spatial and temporal dimensions in Hausa cognition. | |||
| Igbo | n'ihu | ||
| N'ihu can also refer to the forehead, face or facade. | |||
| Malagasy | anoloana | ||
| In the Malagasy language, "anoloana" is derived from the more general term "oloana" which means "face, surface". | |||
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | kutsogolo | ||
| The word 'kutsogolo' is also used to describe the future, as in the phrase 'kutsogolo kuli bwino', meaning 'the future is bright'. | |||
| Shona | kumberi | ||
| "Kumberi" can also mean "forehead", and "kumhanya" which also means "forehead" is its equivalent in Manyika. | |||
| Somali | hore | ||
| "Hore" in Somali can also refer to the forehead. | |||
| Sesotho | ka pele | ||
| The word "ka pele" is a locative phrase formed by the prefix "ka" and the infinitive "pele", meaning "to go forward" or "to lead". | |||
| Swahili | mbele | ||
| The word “mbele” also means “pregnancy”, and is cognate with “mbere” (pregnancy) in Kikuyu | |||
| Xhosa | ngaphambili | ||
| In the context of a dance, 'ngaphambili' can also mean 'the lead dancer'. | |||
| Yoruba | iwaju | ||
| The word 'iwaju' can also refer to 'progress' or 'the future' in Yoruba. | |||
| Zulu | ngaphambili | ||
| The Zulu word "ngaphambili" holds multiple meanings, from "in front" to "the first or foremost." | |||
| Bambara | ɲɛfɛla | ||
| Ewe | ŋgɔ | ||
| Kinyarwanda | imbere | ||
| Lingala | liboso | ||
| Luganda | mu maaso | ||
| Sepedi | ka pele | ||
| Twi (Akan) | anim | ||
Front in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | أمامي | ||
| In some dialects of Arabic, "أمام" can also mean "in front of" or "before". | |||
| Hebrew | חֲזִית | ||
| In Biblical Hebrew, the word “חֲזִית” (“front”) also meant “explanation.” | |||
| Pashto | مخ | ||
| In Pashto, "مخ" means "front" but also "mind" or "thought". | |||
| Arabic | أمامي | ||
| In some dialects of Arabic, "أمام" can also mean "in front of" or "before". | |||
Front in Western European Languages
| Albanian | përpara | ||
| In Albanian, "përpara" can also mean "before" in a temporal sense or "in front of" when used in a prepositional phrase. | |||
| Basque | aurrean | ||
| The word "aurrean" literally means "in front of" or "facing" and is composed of the root "aurre" (front) and the suffix "-an" (in). | |||
| Catalan | frontal | ||
| In Catalan, "frontal" can also refer to a religious painting or carving that is placed on the front of an altar. | |||
| Croatian | ispred | ||
| The word 'ispred', meaning 'in front', is also used in the phrase 'ispod ispred', which means 'in front and behind'. | |||
| Danish | foran | ||
| The word "fore" is also used in Danish as "foran" to mean "in front of" or "before". | |||
| Dutch | voorkant | ||
| "Voor" means "for" and "kant" means "edge". | |||
| English | front | ||
| The word "front" derives from the Old French word "front," meaning "forehead" or "brow." | |||
| French | de face | ||
| In architecture, "de face" refers to the principal façade of a building, facing the street or main entrance. | |||
| Frisian | front | ||
| The Frisian word "froun" can also refer to a woman who is bold and shameless, or to the boldness or impudence that she displays. | |||
| Galician | diante | ||
| In the Galician language, “diante” comes from the Latin de ante that means “from before”. | |||
| German | vorderseite | ||
| The word "Vorderseite" is derived from the Old High German "fordar" meaning "forward" and "sita" meaning "side". | |||
| Icelandic | framan | ||
| The word "framan" also means "direction" or "progress" in Icelandic. | |||
| Irish | tosaigh | ||
| The word 'tosaigh' (front) is derived from the Irish word 'tosach' (beginning). | |||
| Italian | davanti | ||
| "Davanti" derives from Latin "de ab ante", meaning "in front of", and can denote physical position or proximity. | |||
| Luxembourgish | viischt | ||
| The word "viischt" is derived from the Old High German word "wīsa", meaning "face" or "forehead". | |||
| Maltese | quddiem | ||
| In Maltese 'quddiem' can also mean "opposite" and "before", i.e. earlier on. | |||
| Norwegian | front | ||
| The Norwegian word "front" can also mean "audacity" or "cheek" | |||
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | frente | ||
| In Portuguese, "frente" also means "forehead" and can refer to the front part of a building or a line of people | |||
| Scots Gaelic | aghaidh | ||
| The word "aghaidh" can also mean "presence" or "sight" in Scots Gaelic. | |||
| Spanish | frente | ||
| In 1375, "frente" meant "face" and then "forehead" in the 15th century before finally becoming the current usage of "front". | |||
| Swedish | främre | ||
| The word "främre" in Swedish shares an origin with the English words "foremost" and "front" and can also mean "forward" in space and time. | |||
| Welsh | blaen | ||
| Blaen can also be used to refer to the head of an individual, a river or valley. | |||
Front in Eastern European Languages
| Belarusian | спераду | ||
| This word can also mean "early". | |||
| Bosnian | sprijeda | ||
| The word "sprijeda" derives from the Proto-Slavic "*peredъ", meaning "before". It can also refer to a direction or a specific location. | |||
| Bulgarian | отпред | ||
| "Отпред" is also a Bulgarian preposition meaning "in front of" or "before". | |||
| Czech | přední | ||
| The word "přední" also means "main" or "principal" in Czech. | |||
| Estonian | ees | ||
| The word "ees" also means "face" in Estonian and is related to the Finnish word "etuosi", which means "forepart". | |||
| Finnish | edessä | ||
| "Edes" also means "before", and has the related adverb "edesmenneenä" which means "deceased". | |||
| Hungarian | elülső | ||
| Derived from the Proto-Uralic word *ele, meaning "in front". In Finnish, "elü" means "life". | |||
| Latvian | priekšā | ||
| The word "priekšā" also translates to "in front of" or "before". | |||
| Lithuanian | priekyje | ||
| Priekyje in Lithuanian is also used figuratively to mean "at the forefront" or "in the lead". | |||
| Macedonian | напред | ||
| The word "напред" can also be used to mean "forward" or "progress". | |||
| Polish | z przodu | ||
| The word "z przodu" in Polish has a root in the Proto-Indo-European language, meaning "from the front". It can also be interpreted to indicate position (e.g. "in the front") or time (e.g. "at the beginning"). | |||
| Romanian | față | ||
| The Romanian word "față" can also mean "face", "surface", or "aspect". | |||
| Russian | фронт | ||
| The Russian word "фронт" can also refer to a weather front or a war front. | |||
| Serbian | предњи | ||
| The word "предњи" also means "main", "chief", or "first" in Serbian. | |||
| Slovak | spredu | ||
| The word "spredu" also means "from the front" or "from the beginning" in Slovak. | |||
| Slovenian | spredaj | ||
| The word "spredaj" derives from the Old Slavic word "peredъ", which also means "across" or "in front of". | |||
| Ukrainian | спереду | ||
| Ukrainian word “спереду” (“front”) is similar to Serbo-Croatian and Slovenian "sprijeda," "spredaj" and Bulgarian "отпред" which are cognate to "перед” (“before”) in Russian. | |||
Front in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | সামনের | ||
| The word "সামনের" comes from the Sanskrit word "pramukha" which means "first" or "foremost". | |||
| Gujarati | આગળ | ||
| આગળ (āgaḷ) can also mean 'forward' or 'in advance' in Gujarati. | |||
| Hindi | सामने | ||
| "सामने" is also used to refer to "face" or "presence" in Hindi. | |||
| Kannada | ಮುಂಭಾಗ | ||
| The word "ಮುಂಭಾಗ" originates from the Proto-Dravidian word "*munda-", meaning "face" or "forehead". | |||
| Malayalam | മുൻവശത്ത് | ||
| Marathi | समोर | ||
| The word 'समोर' also means 'opposite' or 'in front of' in Marathi. | |||
| Nepali | अगाडि | ||
| अगाडि also means "forward" | |||
| Punjabi | ਸਾਹਮਣੇ | ||
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | ඉදිරිපස | ||
| The word "ඉදිරිපස" in Sinhala is derived from the Proto-Dravidian root *el-, meaning "to rise" or "to come forward". | |||
| Tamil | முன் | ||
| Tamil 'முன்' ('front') is cognate with several Indo-European languages, such as English 'front', which comes Proto-Indo-European *preh₂-. | |||
| Telugu | ముందు | ||
| In Telugu, "ముందు" (front) can also refer to the first part, or an earlier time. | |||
| Urdu | سامنے | ||
| The word "سامنے" in Urdu can also refer to "before" or "in the presence of". | |||
Front in East Asian Languages
| Chinese (Simplified) | 面前 | ||
| "面前" not only means "front", but also means "face" or "presence" in Chinese. | |||
| Chinese (Traditional) | 面前 | ||
| The original meaning of “面前” is to stand in front of the monarch, and the monarch sits and faces south. Therefore, “面前” refers to the direction in which the monarch faces, which is facing south. | |||
| Japanese | 前面 | ||
| Originally only used to describe the front of a building or ship. | |||
| Korean | 앞 | ||
| "앞" can also mean "before" or "in advance" in Korean. | |||
| Mongolian | урд | ||
| Historically, "урд" was also used to refer to the "sun" or "east". | |||
| Myanmar (Burmese) | ရှေ့ | ||
| The word “ရှေ့” also means "ahead" in the sense of time or order. | |||
Front in South East Asian Languages
| Indonesian | depan | ||
| Depan is also used in Indonesian to denote "in the future", as in "di depan nanti" meaning "later on" or "in the future". | |||
| Javanese | ngarep | ||
| The Javanese word "ngarep" can also refer to the future, hope, or anticipation. | |||
| Khmer | មុខ | ||
| The Khmer word "មុខ" not only means "front" but also refers to "appearance" or "face." | |||
| Lao | ດ້ານ ໜ້າ | ||
| Malay | depan | ||
| Depan in Malay may derive from the Sanskrit word 'devan' meaning 'divine' or 'front', or from the Hokkien word 'toa piah' meaning 'big flat'. | |||
| Thai | ด้านหน้า | ||
| The word "ด้านหน้า" can also refer to the "face" of a person or thing. | |||
| Vietnamese | trước mặt | ||
| The word "trước mặt" comes from the Old Vietnamese "truok mat," meaning "in front of one's eyes." | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | harap | ||
Front in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | ön | ||
| The Azerbaijani word "ön" also refers to the "first in order" in a group or queue. | |||
| Kazakh | алдыңғы | ||
| "Алдыңғы" также может означать "лицевая сторона", "прежний". | |||
| Kyrgyz | алдыңкы | ||
| The word "алдыңкы" can also mean "advanced" or "progressive" in Kyrgyz. | |||
| Tajik | пеш | ||
| The word "пеш" can also mean "pawn" in chess, a person on foot, or the "first" part of something. | |||
| Turkmen | öň | ||
| Uzbek | old | ||
| In Uzbek, the word "old" can also refer to the eastern direction. | |||
| Uyghur | ئالدى | ||
Front in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | alo | ||
| The Hawaiian word "alo" can also mean "face", "presence", or "countenance". | |||
| Maori | tuhinga o mua | ||
| The word "Tuhinga o mua" can also refer to the first page of a book or the first part of a story. | |||
| Samoan | i luma | ||
| The Samoan word “i luma” literally translates to “in front” and can also refer to the first-born member of a family. | |||
| Tagalog (Filipino) | sa harap | ||
| The word "sa harap" also means "in the presence of" or "before" in Tagalog. | |||
Front in American Indigenous Languages
| Aymara | para | ||
| Guarani | henondeguáva | ||
Front in International Languages
| Esperanto | fronto | ||
| "Fronto" is related to Latin "frons" meaning forehead. "Frunti" would have meant "face" but is unused. | |||
| Latin | ante | ||
| In Latin, "ante" can also mean "before" in terms of time or place, or "in the presence of". | |||
Front in Others Languages
| Greek | εμπρός | ||
| The Greek word "εμπρός" can also refer to the direction "forward" or the state of being "ahead of" in a race or competition. | |||
| Hmong | sab xub ntiag | ||
| The word "sab xub ntiag" literally means "front of the body" in Hmong. | |||
| Kurdish | pêşde | ||
| In Kurmanji Kurdish, "pêşde" can also refer to the face, forehead, or brow. | |||
| Turkish | ön | ||
| In the 13th century, the word "ön" referred to "the first" and "the beginning". | |||
| Xhosa | ngaphambili | ||
| In the context of a dance, 'ngaphambili' can also mean 'the lead dancer'. | |||
| Yiddish | פראָנט | ||
| פראָנט (front) has alternate meanings of 'cheeky' and 'impudent' in Yiddish. | |||
| Zulu | ngaphambili | ||
| The Zulu word "ngaphambili" holds multiple meanings, from "in front" to "the first or foremost." | |||
| Assamese | সন্মুখৰ | ||
| Aymara | para | ||
| Bhojpuri | सामने | ||
| Dhivehi | ކުރިމަތި | ||
| Dogri | अगला | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | harap | ||
| Guarani | henondeguáva | ||
| Ilocano | sango | ||
| Krio | bifo | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | پێشەوە | ||
| Maithili | सामने | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯃꯃꯥꯡ | ||
| Mizo | hma | ||
| Oromo | adda | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | ଆଗ | ||
| Quechua | ñawpaq | ||
| Sanskrit | पुरतः | ||
| Tatar | фронт | ||
| Tigrinya | ቅድሚት | ||
| Tsonga | mahlweni | ||