anterior

English

Alternative forms

• anteriour (obsolete)

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂én

Proto-Indo-European *-teros

Proto-Indo-European *h₂énteros

Latin *anterus

Latin anteriorbor.

English anterior

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

Pronunciation

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

  • Audio (General American):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪəɹiə(ɹ)

Adjective

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.

   • 2013 February 6, Jen Christiensen, “Vonn’s injury ‘career-delayer,’ not ‘career ender’”, in CNN‎^[1]:

     Her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and medial collateral ligament (MCL) are torn and Vonn has a lateral fracture of the tibial plateau, the upper end of the tibia or shin bone.

   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.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:former

Antonyms

• posterior

Coordinate terms

human anatomy direction adjectivesedit

• anterior
• distal
• dorsal
• lateral
• medial
• posterior
• proximal
• ventral

dentistry location adjectivesedit

• anterior
• apical
• apicocoronal
• axial
• buccal
• buccoapical
• buccocervical
• buccogingival
• buccolabial
• buccolingual
• bucco-occlusal
• buccopalatal
• cervical
• coronal
• coronoapical
• distal
• distoapical
• distobuccal
• distocclusal
• distocervical
• distoclusal
• distocoronal
• distofacial
• distogingival
• distoincisal
• distolingual
• disto-occlusal
• distopalatal
• facial
• gingival
• incisal
• incisocervical
• inferior
• labial
• lingual
• linguobuccal
• linguo-occlusal
• mandibular
• maxillary
• mesial
• mesioapical
• mesiobuccal
• mesiocclusal
• mesiocervical
• mesioclusal
• mesiocoronal
• mesiodistal
• mesiofacial
• mesiogingival
• mesioincisal
• mesiolingual
• mesio-occlusal
• mesiopalatal
• occlusal
• palatal
• posterior
• proximal
• superior
• vestibular

Derived terms

• anterior auricular muscle
• anterior cerebral artery
• anterior chamber
• anterior choroidal artery
• anterior ciliary artery
• anterior cingulate cortex
• anterior commissure
• anterior communicating artery
• anterior cruciate ligament
• anterior deltoid
• anterior ethmoidal artery
• anterior inferior cerebellar artery
• anterior interosseous syndrome
• anteriority
• anteriorization
• anteriorize
• anteriorly, anteriorally
• anterior median fissure
• anteriormost
• anteriorness
• anterior pituitary
• anterior pituitary gland
• anterior scalene muscle
• anterior spinal artery
• anterior spinal artery syndrome
• anterior superior alveolar artery
• anterior superior iliac spine
• anterior triangle
• anterior wall
• anteriorward
• antero-
• centroanterior
• distoanterior
• dorsoanterior
• duplicitas anterior
• inferoanterior
• lateroanterior
• medioanterior
• mentoanterior
• mesoanterior
• midanterior
• nonanterior
• occipitoanterior
• posteroanterior, posterioanterior
• sacroanterior
• subanterior
• superoanterior
• tibialis anterior
• toxic anterior segment syndrome
• ventroanterior

Related terms

• auricularis anterior
• past anterior

Translations

anatomy: nearer the forward end

• Arabic: أَمَامِيّ (ʔamāmiyy)
• Bulgarian: преден (bg) (preden)
• Catalan: anterior (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 前部 (zh) (qiánbù)

• Esperanto: antaŭa
• Finnish: etummainen (fi), etu- (fi), anteriorinen (fi)
• French: antérieur (fr)
• Galician: anterior (gl)
• German: frontal (de), vorder (de)
• Greek: πρόσθιος (el) (prósthios)
• Indonesian: anterior (id)
• Italian: anteriore (it)
• Portuguese: anterior (pt)
• Romanian: anterior (ro)
• Russian: передний (ru) (perednij)
• Spanish: anterior (es)
• Swedish: främre (sv)
• Ukrainian: пере́дній (perédnij)

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)
• Spanish: anterior (es)

References

• “anterior”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “anterior”, in Merriam-Webster.com Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• https://logeion.uchicago.edu/anterior
• https://www.online-latin-dictionary.com/latin-english-dictionary.php?lemma=ANTERIOR100
• https://outils.biblissima.fr/en/collatinus-web/
• https://www.latin-is-simple.com/en/vocabulary/adjective/8759/?h=anterior

Anagrams

• eritoran, erration, rationer

Catalan

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin anteriōrem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern) [ən.tə.ɾiˈur]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [ən.tə.ɾiˈo]
• IPA^(key): (Central) [ən.tə.ɾiˈor]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [an.te.ɾiˈoɾ]
• IPA^(key): (Northwestern) [an.te.ɾiˈor]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Adjective

anterior m or f (masculine and feminine plural anteriors)

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

Synonyms

• previ

Antonyms

• posterior

Derived terms

• anterioritat
• anteriorment
• quasianterior

Further reading

• “anterior”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “anterior”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “anterior” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “anterior”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Galician

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂én

Proto-Indo-European *-teros

Proto-Indo-European *h₂énteros

Latin *anterus

Latin anteriorder.

Galician anterior

Derived from Latin anterior.

Adjective

anterior m or f (plural anteriores)

1. anterior, previous

   Synonyms: precedente, previo

   Antonym: posterior

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

   Antonym: posterior

Derived terms

• anterioridade
• anteriormente

Further reading

• “anterior”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026

German

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin anterior.

Pronunciation

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

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

Adjective

anterior (strong nominative masculine singular anteriorer, not comparable)

1. (anatomy) anterior

Declension

Positive forms of anterior (uncomparable)

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
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

Further reading

• “anterior” in Duden online
• “anterior”, in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache‎^[2] (in German)

Indonesian

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /an.teˈri.or/, [an̪.t̪eˈri.ɔr]

Adjective

anterior (comparative lebih anterior, superlative paling anterior)

1. (anatomy) anterior

Further reading

• “anterior”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

Latin

Etymology

Comparative form of lost adjective *anterus, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂énteros. Related to ante. Alternatively, built on ante in analogy to posterior (“which comes after”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [anˈtɛ.ri.ɔr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [anˈtɛː.ri.or]

Adjective

anterior (comparative, neuter anterius, no positive form); third declension

1. that (which is) is before one (in time), more forward, in the future; anterior (as opposed to posterior or backward in time); in front (of)
2. foremost
3. formerly (of time), previously

Inflection

Third-declension comparative adjective.

	singular			plural
	masc./fem.	neuter		masc./fem.	neuter
nominative	anterior	anterius		anteriōrēs	anteriōra
genitive	anteriōris			anteriōrum
dative	anteriōrī			anteriōribus
accusative	anteriōrem	anterius		anteriōrēs anteriōrīs	anteriōra
ablative	anteriōre anteriōrī			anteriōribus
vocative	anterior	anterius		anteriōrēs	anteriōra

Related terms

• anterius (adverb)

Descendants

Descendants

• → 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

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂én

Proto-Indo-European *-teros

Proto-Indo-European *h₂énteros

Latin *anterus

Latin anteriōremlbor.

Portuguese anterior

Learned borrowing from Latin anteriōrem.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ɐ̃.te.ɾiˈoʁ/ [ɐ̃.te.ɾiˈoh], (faster) /ɐ̃.teˈɾjoʁ/ [ɐ̃.teˈɾjoh]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ɐ̃.te.ɾiˈoʁ/ [ɐ̃.te.ɾiˈoh], (faster) /ɐ̃.teˈɾjoʁ/ [ɐ̃.teˈɾjoh]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /ɐ̃.te.ɾiˈoɾ/, (faster) /ɐ̃.teˈɾjoɾ/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /ɐ̃.te.ɾiˈoʁ/ [ɐ̃.te.ɾiˈoχ], (faster) /ɐ̃.teˈɾjoʁ/ [ɐ̃.teˈɾjoχ]
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): /ɐ̃.te.ɾiˈoɻ/, (faster) /ɐ̃.teˈɾjoɻ/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɐ̃.tɨˈɾjoɾ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɐ̃.tɨˈɾjoɾ/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɐ̃.tɨˈɾjo.ɾi/

• Hyphenation: an‧te‧ri‧or

Adjective

anterior m or f (plural anteriores)

1. anterior
2. previous, preceding

Derived terms

• anterioridade
• anteriormente

Further reading

• “anterior”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “anterior”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Romanian

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂én

Proto-Indo-European *-teros

Proto-Indo-European *h₂énteros

Latin *anterus

Latin anteriorlbor.

▲

Latin anteriorlbor.

French antérieurbor.

Romanian anterior

Learned borrowing from Latin anterior, and borrowed from French antérieur.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /an.te.riˈor/

Adjective

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

1. previous

   Synonym: precedent

   Antonym: următor

Declension

Declension of anterior

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

Adverb

anterior

1. previously

Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂én

Proto-Indo-European *-teros

Proto-Indo-European *h₂énteros

Latin *anterus

Latin anteriorlbor.

Spanish anterior

Learned borrowing from Latin anterior.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /anteˈɾjoɾ/ [ãn̪.t̪eˈɾjoɾ]

• Audio (Venezuela):

  (file)

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

Adjective

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

Derived terms

• anterioridad
• anteriormente
• condicional anterior
• cubital anterior
• pretérito anterior

Further reading

• “anterior”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025