frontiers
Edges of exploration
Frontiers are the outer edges of settled or explored territory—the boundaries between the known and unknown.
The American frontier was the advancing edge of westward expansion.
The word extends to any field's outer limits: the frontiers of science, new frontiers in medicine.
Frontier suggests possibility and challenge, places where established rules give way to discovery.
Outer edge or limit
- demarcationFormal boundary setting
- edgeBoundary or sharpness
- thresholdPoint of beginning
- barrierObstruction preventing passage
perimeter · margin · confines · outskirts · fringe · brink · verge · limit
Sudden important advance
- cutting-edgeAt innovation's forefront
- researchSystematic fact-finding effort
- developmentProgress toward maturity
- technologyApplied scientific methods
advancement · progress · pioneering · emerging · next-generation · leading-edge · state-of-the-art · forefront
One who colonizes territory
- homesteaderOne who settles wilderness land
- trailblazerFirst to forge ahead
- colonistPerson inhabiting new territory
- pathfinderOne who discovers routes
prospector · explorer · migration · westward · expansion · settlement · territory · outpost
Act of finding something
- expeditionOrganized exploratory journey
- voyageJourney by sea
- adventureRisky exciting undertaking
- journeyTravel from place to place
quest · traverse · chart · uncharted · terra incognita · mapping · surveying · reconnaissance
border
Outer edge or limit
- demarcationFormal boundary setting
- edgeBoundary or sharpness
- thresholdPoint of beginning
barrier · perimeter · margin · confines · outskirts · fringe · brink · verge · limit · divide
breakthrough
Sudden important advance
- cutting-edgeAt innovation's forefront
- researchSystematic fact-finding effort
- developmentProgress toward maturity
technology · advancement · progress · pioneering · emerging · next-generation · leading-edge · state-of-the-art · forefront · vanguard
settler
One who colonizes territory
- homesteaderOne who settles wilderness land
- trailblazerFirst to forge ahead
- colonistPerson inhabiting new territory
pathfinder · prospector · explorer · migration · westward · expansion · settlement · territory · outpost · wagon train
discovery
Act of finding something
- expeditionOrganized exploratory journey
- voyageJourney by sea
- adventureRisky exciting undertaking
journey · quest · traverse · chart · uncharted · terra incognita · mapping · surveying · reconnaissance · venturing
backcountry
Sparsely populated wilderness areas
- hinterlandRemote area beyond settlements
- outbackRemote interior wilderness
- untamedNot domesticated
remote · wild · rugged · unsettled · uninhabited · desolate · bush · prairie · tundra · taiga
- explorationexploration, explore, expedition, expeditions, voyage
- bordersborder, boundary, border crossing, national borders, boundary line
- boundariesboundary, boundary line, borders, border, edges
- human geographycultural landscape, demographics, migration, demography, urbanization
- next big thingsstartups, emerging markets, rising stars, trending topics, game changers
- ExplorersColumbus, Christopher Columbus, Magellan, Cortez, Marco Polo
frontiersheartlands
Central, vital regions
centers · cores · interiors · hinterlands · mainlands
frontierssettlements
Established communities or agreements
homelands · old country · plantations · motherlands · fatherlands
frontierstraditions
Long-established customs passed down
conventions · old guard · status quo · orthodoxy · rear guard
- frontier settlersThose colonizing undeveloped territory
- final frontierLast unexplored territory
- frontier townSettlement at expansion's edge
- western frontierBoundary toward the west
- frontier justiceExtralegal punishment in lawless regions
- the final frontier
frontier, frontiersman, frontiersmen, frontierswoman, frontierswomen