frontier
fron·tier/ˈfɹʌntɪə/noun, verb
frontier is spelled F-R-O-N-T-I-E-R, 2 syllables: fron·tier. The wrong spelling people search most is froniter: about 930 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 263 of all searches for the word. Frontier is a noun meaning “The part of a country which borders or faces another country or unsettled region”. The plural of frontier is frontiers.
How many letters and syllables are in frontier?
| Letters | 8: F-R-O-N-T-I-E-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: fron·tier |
| In writing | 9.3 times per million words; the 7,445th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, froniter, about 930 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell frontier?
Frontier is spelled F-R-O-N-T-I-E-R. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 260 of the searches for frontier in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is frontier?
Frontier appears 9.3 times per million words in written English, the 7,445th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce frontier?
- UK /ˈfɹʌntɪə/
- UK /ˈfɹɒntɪə/
- UK /ˈfɹʌntjə/
Frontier has 2 syllables, split fron·tier in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-frontier.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of frontier
- frontiers plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- frontiering participle, present
- frontiered participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does frontier mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The part of a country which borders or faces another country or unsettled region.
the frontier of civilization
- 2
The most advanced or recent version of something; the leading edge.
Near-synonyms: vanguard, state of the art
- 3
obsoleteAn outwork of a fortification.
verb
- 1
To live as pioneers on frontier territory.
- 2
obsoleteTo place on the frontier.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Frontier in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | frontière |
| German | Grenzland, Grenzgebiet, Grenzgegend, Grenze, Mark, Grenzmark |
| Portuguese | fronteira |
| Spanish | frontera |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does frontier come from?
From Middle English frounter, from Old French fronter (whence Modern French frontière), from front.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).