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 (GA)

    (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.
2. (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) [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]}

• 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) [ən.tə.ɾiˈor]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [ən.tə.ɾiˈo]
• IPA^(key): (Valencian) [an.te.ɾiˈoɾ]

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, 2024
• “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, since 2012

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

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

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /anˈte.ri.or/, [än̪ˈt̪ɛriɔr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /anˈte.ri.or/, [än̪ˈt̪ɛːrior]

anterior (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.

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/ [ãn̪.t̪eˈɾjoɾ]

• 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, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014