a picture at the beginning of a book, on the page opposite the page with the title on it （与书名页相对一页上的）卷首插图 Word Originlate 16th cent. (originally referring to the principal face of a building): from French frontispice or late Latin frontispicium ‘facade’, from Latin frons, front- ‘front’ + specere ‘to look’. The change in the ending (early in the word's history) was by association with piece.