fronce

See also: froncé

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French fronce, from Old French fronce, fronche (“frown, wrinkles, small creases in cloth”), from Frankish *hrunkiju (“wrinkle, rumple”) from Proto-Germanic *hrunkijō, *hrunkitō (“fold, wrinkle”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to turn, bend”). Akin to Old High German runza (“fold, wrinkle, crease”) (German Runzel (“wrinkle”)), Middle Dutch ronse (“frown”), Old Norse hrukka (“wrinkle, crease”) (Icelandic hrukka (“wrinkle, crease, ruck”)). More at ruck.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fʁɔ̃s/

• Audio (France (Toulouse)):

  (file)

Noun

fronce f (plural fronces)

1. a frown; scowl

Verb

fronce

1. inflection of froncer:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “fronce”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• foncer

Middle English

Noun

fronce

1. alternative form of frounce

Middle French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French fronce, from Frankish *hrunkiju (“wrinkle”) from Proto-Germanic *hrunkijō, *hrunkitō (“fold, wrinkle”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to turn, bend”).

Noun

fronce f (plural fronces)

1. crease; wrinkle (usually in clothes)

Descendants

• French: fronce
• → Middle English: frounce, ffrownce, fronce, frownce
  • English: frounce

References

• Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX^e au XV^e siècle (1881) (fronce, supplement)

Old French

Alternative forms

• fronche, frunce, frunche

Etymology

Borrowed from Frankish *hrunkiju (“wrinkle”) from Proto-Germanic *hrunkijō, *hrunkitō (“fold, wrinkle”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to turn, bend”).

Noun

fronce oblique singular, f (oblique plural fronces, nominative singular fronce, nominative plural fronces)

1. wrinkle (of the skin)

Derived terms

• fronchal

Descendants

• Middle French: fronce
  • French: fronce
  • → Middle English: frounce, ffrownce, fronce, frownce
    • English: frounce

References

• Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX^e au XV^e siècle (1881) (fronce)