Frontier Meaning
/ˈfɹʌntɪə/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounThe part of a country which borders or faces another country or unsettled region.
nounThe most advanced or recent version of something; the leading edge.
Sentence Examples
Many families left to make a new life on the frontier.
Many families went west to make a new life on the frontier.
CEFR Practice Quiz
Settlers moved west to the ____ in search of new opportunities.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The explorers traveled to the remote ____ of the continent, where they discovered many new plant species.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English frounter, from Old French fronter (whence Modern French frontière), from front.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"There were not many passengers, and the journey was uneventful until the frontier was reached at Padang Besar, although an armed escort of Malay police accompanied the train from Alor Star."
— 1955 April, “Notes and News: A Journey through Thailand”, in Railway Magazine, page 286:
"From time to time the coaches of the Lötschberg Railway itself, which in comfort and décor can rank with the finest in Europe today, travel far from the frontiers of Switzerland on through workings such as these."
— 1960 December, Cecil J. Allen, “Operating a mountain main line: the Bern-Lötschberg-Simplon: Part One”, in Trains Illustrated, page 743:
"Unlike a boundary, which evokes the image of a line on a map and demarcates spheres of political control, the frontier is an area where colonisation is taking place....no authority is recognised as legitimate by all parties or is able to [exercise] undisputed control over the area."
— 1979, Richard Elphic, Hermann Guilomee (editors), The shaping of South African Society, 1652 - 1820, page 297:
"But there is also real opposition to Nato expansion - and even to Nato's continued existence after the Cold War.
This is a view shared by a very large part of Russia's military and foreign affairs establishment.
Educated and trained during the Soviet period, they are still inculcated with notions of super-power military might.
It has been painful for these people to see Nato's outer edge creep ever closer to what was once the frontier of the USSR."
— 2002 November 22, Steven Eke, “Russia's rocky relationship with Nato”, in BBC World Service:
"The demise of “de minimis”, as the exemption is known, is the latest, symbolic reminder to digital darlings that frontiers exist—and that business models built on their absence are in need of a rethink."
— 2025 September 4, “What the splinternet means for big tech: Unpleasant new trade-offs, for starters”, in The Economist:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
Settlers moved west to the ____ in search of new opportunities.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The explorers traveled to the remote ____ of the continent, where they discovered many new plant species.