title pagen.
/ˈtʌɪtl peɪdʒ/, U.S. /ˈtaɪdəl ˌpeɪdʒ/ 1. A page at the front of a book giving its full title, the names of the author and publisher, and often other publication information.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > book > leaves or pages of book > [noun] > page > first or title page
title page1592
frontispiece1607
fore-page1623
front1646
title1651
1592 T. Nashe Pierce Penilesse (Huntington Libr. copy) sig. D4v (margin) Looke at the Chandlers shop, or at the Flaxwiues stall, if you see no tow nor Sope wrapt vppon the title page of such a Pamphlet.
1630 in tr. G. Botero Relations Famous Kingdoms World (rev. ed.) To Rdr. sig. A ijv Our Title page acknowledges him to be that famous Botero, the Italian.
1646 S. Ford Great Interest States & Kingdomes Ep. Ded. sig. A3v Many transient Readers may be perhaps stayed and intreated to read beyond the Title-page.
1757 D. Hume Let. 3 Sept. (1932) I. 267 I hereby send you the Index, Title-Page, and all the Preface, which I intend.
1830 I. D'Israeli Comm. Life Charles I III. vii. 154 He had insisted..that his name should appear in the title-page.
1931 H. L. Mencken Diary 6 Sept. (1989) 38 I hope to induce Knopf to give ‘Treatise on the Gods’ a new title page, and to reset the front matter.
2006 Jrnl. Mil. Hist. 70 801 Though Anderson's name does not appear on the title page of this edition, it is present on that of the second edition.
2. In figurative contexts as the type of something superficial or on its own insufficient to complete a task or achieve a goal.
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1615 T. Overbury et al. New & Choise Characters with Wife (6th impr.) sig. G8 In a word, he is the Index of a man, and the Title-page of a Scholler,..much in profession, nothing in practise.
1641 J. Milton Of Reformation 39 Many of those that pretend to be great Rabbies in these studies have scarce saluted them from the strings, and the titlepage.
1651 Bp. J. Taylor XXVIII Serm. v. 57 Repentance is a great volume of duty; and Godly sorrow is but the frontispiece or title page.
1745 E. Young Complaint: Night the Eighth 17 The World's all Title-Page, there's no Contents.
1837 F. Chamier Arethusa I. ii. 25 Hammerton..had not only read the title page of life, but had turned over some of its most interesting pages.
2013 @laydeebug32 4 Sept. in twitter.com (O.E.D. Archive) My Dreams are only the title page of my life. God is the author and finisher of my faith.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2019; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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