frontier

American  

[fruhn-teer, fron-, fruhn-teer] / frʌnˈtɪər, frɒn-, ˈfrʌn tɪər /

noun

1. the part of a country that borders another country; boundary; border.

2. the land or territory that forms the furthest extent of a country's settled or inhabited regions.

3. Often frontiers.

   1. the limit of knowledge or the most advanced achievement in a particular field.

      the frontiers of physics.

   2. an outer limit in a field of endeavor, especially one in which the opportunities for research and development have not been exploited.

      the frontiers of space exploration.

4. Mathematics. boundary.

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adjective

1. of, relating to, or located on the frontier.

   a frontier town.

frontier British  

/ frʌnˈtɪə, ˈfrʌntɪə /

noun

1. 1. the region of a country bordering on another or a line, barrier, etc, marking such a boundary

   2. ( as modifier )

      a frontier post

2. 1. the edge of the settled area of a country

   2. ( as modifier )

      the frontier spirit

3. (often plural) the limit of knowledge in a particular field

   the frontiers of physics have been pushed back

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Related Words

See boundary.

Other Word Forms

• frontierless adjective
• frontierlike adjective
• semifrontier noun
• transfrontier adjective

Etymology

Origin of frontier

1350–1400; Middle English frounter < Old French frontier, equivalent to front (in the sense of opposite side; front ) + -ier -ier ²

Example Sentences

Meanwhile, Alphabet’s full-stack AI strategy — from its custom tensor processing units to its Gemini frontier model — has impressed investors looking for a seemingly lower-risk way to play the AI trade.

From MarketWatch

But a new frontier is emerging at the edges of that system.

From MarketWatch

Boatwright would be wise to heed this history and either take Chipotle into new frontiers or prepare for its inevitable irrelevance.

From Los Angeles Times

Thea Jamison, a managing director at Change Global Investment, which focuses on investing in emerging and frontier markets, said investors have been drawn to international stocks’ relatively attractive valuations.

From MarketWatch

Following the report, Muse expects Nvidia’s leadership in the chip market to get a boost when the first frontier AI models trained on its Blackwell chips hit the market next month.

From MarketWatch