anterior

American  

[an-teer-ee-er] / ænˈtɪər i ər /

adjective

1. situated before or at the front of; fore (opposed to posterior).

2. going before in time or sequence; preceding; earlier.

   events anterior to the outbreak of war.

3. Linguistics. (in distinctive feature analysis) articulated in the region extending from the alveolar ridge to the lips; alveolar, dental, or labial.

4. (in animals and embryos) pertaining to or toward the head or forward end of the body.

5. (in humans) pertaining to or toward the front plane of the body, equivalent to the ventral surface of quadrupeds.

6. Botany. on the front side and away from the main axis, as the lower lip of a flower.

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anterior British  

/ ænˌtɪərɪˈɒrɪtɪ, ænˈtɪərɪə /

adjective

1. situated at or towards the front

2. earlier in time

3. zoology of or near the head end

4. botany (of part of a flower or leaf) situated farthest away from the main stem

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Other Word Forms

• anteriority
  noun
• anteriorly
  adverb
• nonanterior
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of anterior

1535–45; < Latin, comparative of ante before, formed on model of posterior

Explanation

The anterior of anything is the front — in humans, it's the area toward the head of the body, opposite of the posterior. Anterior can also refer to something that came before, as in "anterior to the discovery of vaccines." The word anterior is one of those words that are spelled the same in English today as they were in their Latin origins. It still has the same meaning — "former" or "before." You can remember that by remembering that the prefix ante- means "before." Emily Dickinson once wrote, "Love is anterior to life, posterior to death, initial of creation, and the exponent of breath."

Example Sentences

The 27-year-old Arsenal forward arrived at the awards on crutches after an Anterior Cruciate Ligament injury against Manchester United in November.

From BBC • Dec. 21, 2022

Anterior hip replacement patients often need less pain medication after surgery, practitioners of the technique say, although this varies by the individual.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 1, 2016

Anterior to that are the premotor cortex, Broca’s area, and the frontal eye fields, which are all related to planning certain types of movements.

From Textbooks • Jun. 19, 2013

Figure 17.9 Anterior Pituitary The anterior pituitary manufactures seven hormones.

From Textbooks • Jun. 19, 2013

Anterior to the otic capsule the lateral wall of the braincase cannot be seen, and may not have been ossified.

From A New Order of Fishlike Amphibia From the Pennsylvanian of Kansas by Eaton, Theodore H. (Theodore Hildreth)