anterior

• anteriour (obsolete)

Borrowed from Latin anterior (“that is before, foremost”).

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /anˈtɪə.ɹi.ə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ænˈtɪɹ.i.ɚ/

  • Audio (General American):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪəɹiə(ɹ)

anterior (not comparable)

1. (anatomy) Nearer the forward end, especially in the front of the body; nearer the head or forepart of an animal.
   • 2013, Carole Hollins, Questions and Answers for Dental Nurses, page 44:

     Transillumination of anterior teeth, using the composite curing light placed labially to shine through the tooth and be viewed using the mouth mirror, shows up any cavities as dark interproximal shadows.

   1. (botany) (of a part of a flower or leaf) Situated further away from the mainstem.
   2. (phonetics) Pronounced with an obstruction located in front of the palato-alveolar region of the mouth, e.g. b, p, d, t.
3. (formal) Coming before or earlier in time or development, prior to, preceding.
   • 1859, John Stuart Mill, On Liberty:

     anterior to the time when mankind have become capable of being improved by free and equal discussion.

• See also Thesaurus:former

• posterior

• (human anatomy direction adjectives) anterior,‎ distal,‎ dorsal,‎ lateral,‎ medial,‎ posterior,‎ proximal,‎ ventral ^{(Category: en:Medicine)}
• (dentistry location adjectives) anterior,‎ apical,‎ apicocoronal,‎ axial,‎ buccal,‎ buccoapical,‎ buccocervical,‎ buccogingival,‎ buccolabial,‎ buccolingual,‎ bucco-occlusal,‎ buccopalatal,‎ cervical,‎ coronal,‎ coronoapical,‎ distal,‎ distoapical,‎ distobuccal,‎ distocervical,‎ distocoronal,‎ distofacial,‎ distogingival,‎ distoincisal,‎ distolingual,‎ disto-occlusal,‎ distoclusal,‎ distocclusal,‎ distopalatal,‎ facial,‎ gingival,‎ incisal,‎ incisocervical,‎ inferior,‎ labial,‎ lingual,‎ linguobuccal,‎ linguo-occlusal,‎ mandibular,‎ maxillary,‎ mesial,‎ mesioapical,‎ mesiobuccal,‎ mesiocervical,‎ mesiocoronal,‎ mesiodistal,‎ mesiofacial,‎ mesioincisal,‎ mesiogingival,‎ mesiolingual,‎ mesio-occlusal,‎ mesioclusal,‎ mesiocclusal,‎ mesiopalatal,‎ occlusal,‎ palatal,‎ posterior,‎ proximal,‎ superior,‎ vestibular ^{(Category: en:Dentistry)}

• auricularis anterior
• past anterior

• “anterior”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “anterior”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

• eritoran, erration, rationer

Borrowed from Latin anteriōrem.

• IPA^(key): (Central)
• IPA^(key): (Balearic)
• IPA^(key): (Valencia)

anterior m or f (masculine and feminine plural anteriors)

1. anterior (before; preceding)
2. previous
3. (phonetics, phonology) front

• previ

• posterior

• anterioritat
• anteriorment
• quasianterior

• “anterior” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “anterior”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “anterior” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “anterior” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

From Latin anterior.

anterior m or f (plural anteriores)

1. anterior, previous

   Synonyms: precedente, previo

   Antonym: posterior

2. (anatomy) anterior (nearer the forward end)

   Antonym: posterior

• anterioridade
• anteriormente

• “anterior”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2025

Borrowed from Latin anterior.

• IPA^(key): /anˈteːʁioːɐ̯/
• Hyphenation: an‧te‧ri‧or

• Audio:

  (file)

anterior (strong nominative masculine singular anteriorer, not comparable)

1. (anatomy) anterior

• “anterior” in Duden online
• “anterior” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Learned borrowing from Latin anterior, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂énteros.

• IPA^(key): /an.teˈri.or/,

anterior

1. (anatomy) anterior

• “anterior” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Comparative form of lost adjective *anterus, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂énteros. Related to ante.

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /anˈte.ri.or/,
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /anˈte.ri.or/,

anterior (comparative-only, neuter anterius); third declension (Late Latin)

1. That is before, more forward, foremost; (of time) former, previous; anterior.

Third-declension comparative adjective.

• anterius (adverb)

• “anterior”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• anterior in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Borrowed from Latin anteriōrem.

• Hyphenation: an‧te‧ri‧or

anterior m or f (plural anteriores)

1. anterior
2. previous, preceding

• anterioridade
• anteriormente

• “anterior”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025

Borrowed from Latin anterior and French antérieur.

• IPA^(key): /an.te.riˈor/

anterior m or n (feminine singular anterioară, masculine plural anteriori, feminine and neuter plural anterioare)

1. previous

   Synonym: precedent

   Antonym: următor

Borrowed from Latin anterior.

• IPA^(key): /anteˈɾjoɾ/

• Audio (Venezuela):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -oɾ
• Syllabification: an‧te‧rior

anterior m or f (masculine and feminine plural anteriores)

1. anterior (in time), previous, earlier, former, past

   Synonym: previo

   Antonym: posterior

2. anterior (in space)

   Synonyms: delantero, frontal

   Antonym: posterior

• “anterior”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10