(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.
(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.

Synonyms

See also Thesaurus:former

Antonyms

posterior

Coordinate terms

(human anatomy direction adjectives) anterior,‎ distal,‎ dorsal,‎ lateral,‎ medial,‎ posterior,‎ proximal,‎ ventral ^{(Category: en:Medicine)} ^[edit]
(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)} ^[edit]

Derived terms

anterior auricular muscle
anterior cerebral artery
anterior chamber
anterior cingulate cortex
anterior commissure
anterior communicating artery
anterior deltoid
anterior inferior cerebellar artery
anteriority
anteriorize
anteriorly, anteriorally
anterior median fissure
anteriormost
anteriorness
anterior pituitary
anterior pituitary gland
anterior scalene muscle
anterior spinal artery
anterior superior iliac spine
anterior triangle
anteriorward
antero-
centroanterior
distoanterior
dorsoanterior
duplicitas anterior
inferoanterior
lateroanterior
medioanterior
mentoanterior
mesoanterior
midanterior
nonanterior
occipitoanterior
posteroanterior, posterioanterior
sacroanterior
subanterior
superoanterior
ventroanterior

Related terms

auricularis anterior
past anterior

Translations

anatomy: nearer the forward end

Bulgarian: преден (bg) (preden)
Catalan: anterior (ca)
Esperanto: antaŭa
Finnish: etummainen (fi), etu- (fi), anteriorinen (fi)
French: antérieur (fr)
Galician: anterior (gl)
German: frontal (de)
Greek: πρόσθιος (el) (prósthios)
Italian: anteriore (it)
Portuguese: anterior (pt)
Romanian: anterior (ro)
Russian: передний (ru) (perednij)
Spanish: anterior (es)
Swedish: främre (sv)

before or earlier in time

Bulgarian: предшестващ (bg) (predšestvašt)
Catalan: anterior (ca)
Dutch: anterieur (nl)
Esperanto: antaŭa
Finnish: edeltävä (fi), aiempi (fi), aikaisempi (fi), edellinen (fi)
Galician: anterior (gl)
German: früher (de), vorherig (de)
Japanese: 前の (ja) (saki no), 優先する (ja) (yūsen suru), 先行する (ja) (senkō suru), 先んじる (ja) (sakinjiru)
Portuguese: anterior (pt)
Romanian: anterior (ro)
Russian: предше́ствующий (ru) (predšéstvujuščij)

References

“anterior”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
“anterior”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary

Anagrams

eritoran, erration, rationer

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin anterior.

Pronunciation

(Balearic, Central) IPA^(key): /ən.tə.ɾiˈo/

(Valencian) IPA^(key): /an.te.ɾiˈoɾ/

Adjective

anterior (masculine and feminine plural anteriors)

anterior (before; preceding)
previous
(phonetics, phonology) front

Synonyms

previ

Antonyms

posterior

Derived terms

anterioritat
anteriorment
quasianterior

Galician

Etymology

From Latin anterior.

Adjective

anterior m or f (plural anteriores)

anterior, previous
Synonyms: precedente, previo
Antonym: posterior
(anatomy) anterior (nearer the forward end)
Antonym: posterior

Derived terms

anterioridade
anteriormente

German

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin anterior.

Pronunciation

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

Adjective

anterior (strong nominative masculine singular anteriorer, not comparable)

(anatomy) anterior

Declension

Positive forms of anterior (uncomparable)

number & gender		singular			plural
number & gender		masculine	feminine	neuter	all genders
predicative		er ist anterior	sie ist anterior	es ist anterior	sie sind anterior
strong declension (without article)	nominative	anteriorer	anteriore	anteriores	anteriore
	genitive	anterioren	anteriorer	anterioren	anteriorer
	dative	anteriorem	anteriorer	anteriorem	anterioren
	accusative	anterioren	anteriore	anteriores	anteriore
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der anteriore	die anteriore	das anteriore	die anterioren
	genitive	des anterioren	der anterioren	des anterioren	der anterioren
	dative	dem anterioren	der anterioren	dem anterioren	den anterioren
	accusative	den anterioren	die anteriore	das anteriore	die anterioren
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein anteriorer	eine anteriore	ein anteriores	(keine) anterioren
	genitive	eines anterioren	einer anterioren	eines anterioren	(keiner) anterioren
	dative	einem anterioren	einer anterioren	einem anterioren	(keinen) anterioren
	accusative	einen anterioren	eine anteriore	ein anteriores	(keine) anterioren

Latin

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

(Classical) IPA^(key): /anˈte.ri.or/, [än̪ˈt̪ɛriɔr]

(Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /anˈte.ri.or/, [än̪ˈt̪ɛːrior]

Adjective

anterior (neuter anterius, positive *anterus); third declension (Late Latin)

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

Inflection

Third-declension comparative adjective.

Case / Gender	Masc./Fem.	Neuter	Masc./Fem.	Neuter
Number	Singular		Plural
Nominative	anterior	anterius	anteriōrēs	anteriōra
Genitive	anteriōris		anteriōrum
Dative	anteriōrī		anteriōribus
Accusative	anteriōrem	anterius	anteriōrēs	anteriōra
Ablative	anteriōre		anteriōribus
Vocative	anterior	anterius	anteriōrēs	anteriōra

Related terms

anterius (adverb)

Descendants

Descendants of anterior in other languages

→ Catalan: anterior
→ English: anterior
→ French: antérieur
→ Galician: anterior
→ Italian: anteriore
→ Portuguese: anterior
→ Romanian: anterior
→ Spanish: anterior

References

“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

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin anteriōrem.

Pronunciation

(Brazil) IPA^(key): /ɐ̃.te.ɾiˈoʁ/ [ɐ̃.te.ɾɪˈoh], (faster pronunciation) /ɐ̃.teˈɾjoʁ/ [ɐ̃.teˈɾjoh]
- (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /ɐ̃.te.ɾiˈoɾ/ [ɐ̃.te.ɾɪˈoɾ], (faster pronunciation) /ɐ̃.teˈɾjoɾ/
- (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /ɐ̃.te.ɾiˈoʁ/ [ɐ̃.te.ɾɪˈoχ], (faster pronunciation) /ɐ̃.teˈɾjoʁ/ [ɐ̃.teˈɾjoχ]
- (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ɐ̃.te.ɾiˈoɻ/ [ɐ̃.te.ɾɪˈoɻ], (faster pronunciation) /ɐ̃.teˈɾjoɻ/

(Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɐ̃.tɨˈɾjoɾ/

Hyphenation: an‧te‧ri‧or

Adjective

anterior m or f (plural anteriores)

anterior
previous, preceding

Derived terms

anterioridade
anteriormente

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin anterior and French antérieur.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /an.te.riˈor/

Adjective

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

previous
Synonym: precedent
Antonym: următor

Declension

Declension of anterior

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative/ accusative	indefinite	anterior		anterioară	anteriori	anterioare
nominative/ accusative	definite	anteriorul		anterioara	anteriorii	anterioarele
genitive/ dative	indefinite	anterior		anterioare	anteriori	anterioare
genitive/ dative	definite	anteriorului		anterioarei	anteriorilor	anterioarelor

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin anterior.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /anteˈɾjoɾ/ [ãn̪.t̪eˈɾjoɾ]
Audio (Latin America) (file)
Rhymes: -oɾ
Syllabification: an‧te‧rior

Adjective

anterior (plural anteriores)

anterior (in time), previous, earlier, former, past
Synonym: previo
Antonym: posterior
anterior (in space)
Synonyms: delantero, frontal
Antonym: posterior

Derived terms

anterioridad
anteriormente
condicional anterior
cubital anterior
pretérito anterior

anterior

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Pronunciation

Adjective

Synonyms

Antonyms

Coordinate terms

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

References

Anagrams

Catalan

Etymology

Pronunciation

Adjective

Synonyms

Antonyms

Derived terms

Further reading

Galician

Etymology

Adjective

Derived terms

Further reading

German

Etymology

Pronunciation

Adjective

Declension

Further reading

Latin

Etymology

Pronunciation

Adjective

Inflection

Related terms

Descendants

References

Portuguese

Etymology

Pronunciation

Adjective

Derived terms

Further reading

Romanian

Etymology

Pronunciation

Adjective

Declension

Spanish

Etymology

Pronunciation

Adjective

Derived terms

Further reading