An ornamental decorative page or illustration facing the title page of a book, or the front-facing architectural decoration of a building.
A variant spelling of frontispiece, itself from Middle French, combining front + -ispiece (from Latin specere, 'to see'). The word originally referred to anything that faces you at the front.
Before modern cover design, books had elaborate frontspieces—ornate engravings you'd see when you opened the book, often showing the author or scenes from the story. Collectors still treasure these artistic pages!
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