The part of a shoe's upper that covers the front of the foot and instep.
From Old French empeigne, from em- (in) + peine (pain, possibly from Latin pinna, feather/point). The term originally referred to the pointed upper part of a shoe.
Medieval shoemakers called this the empeine when shoes had those wildly exaggerated pointy toes that were sometimes chained to a belt! It's a reminder that shoe terminology is older and stranger than you'd think.
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