# anterior
## English
### Alternative forms

* anteriour (obsolete)

### Etymology

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

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /anˈtɪə.ɹi.ə/
* (General American) IPA: /ænˈtɪɹ.i.ɚ/
** Audio (General American):(file)
* Rhymes: -ɪəɹiə(ɹ)

### Adjective

anterior (not comparable)
* (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.
** (botany) (of a part of a flower or leaf) Situated further away from the mainstem.
** (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

* anterior
* distal
* dorsal
* lateral
* medial
* posterior
* proximal
* ventral
* 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 ciliary artery
* anterior cingulate cortex
* anterior commissure
* anterior communicating artery
* anterior cruciate ligament
* anterior deltoid
* anterior ethmoidal artery
* anterior inferior cerebellar artery
* anteriority
* anteriorization
* 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
* tibialis anterior
* ventroanterior

#### Related terms

* auricularis anterior
* past anterior

#### Translations
### References

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

### Anagrams

* eritoran, erration, rationer

## Catalan
### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin anteriōrem.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central) [ən.tə.ɾiˈor]
* IPA: (Balearic) [ən.tə.ɾiˈo]
* IPA: (Valencia) [an.te.ɾiˈoɾ]

### Adjective

anterior m or f (masculine and feminine plural anteriors)
* anterior (before; preceding)
* previous
* (phonetics, phonology) front

#### Synonyms

* previ

#### Antonyms

* posterior

#### Derived terms

* anterioritat
* anteriorment
* quasianterior

### Further reading

* “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.

## 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

### Further reading

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

## German
### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin anterior.

### Pronunciation

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

### Adjective

anterior (strong nominative masculine singular anteriorer, not comparable)
* (anatomy) anterior

#### Declension
### Further reading

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

## Indonesian
### Etymology

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

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /an.teˈri.or/, [an.t̪eˈri.or]

### Adjective

anterior
* (anatomy) anterior

### Further reading

* “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.

## Latin
### Etymology

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

### Pronunciation

* (Classical Latin) IPA: /anˈte.ri.or/, [än̪ˈt̪ɛriɔr]
* (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA: /anˈte.ri.or/, [än̪ˈt̪ɛːrior]

### Adjective

anterior (comparative-only, neuter anterius); third declension (Late Latin)
* That is before, more forward, foremost; (of time) former, previous; anterior.

#### Inflection

Third-declension comparative adjective.

#### Related terms

* anterius (adverb)

#### 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

Borrowed from Latin anteriōrem.

### Pronunciation

* (Brazil) IPA: /ɐ̃.te.ɾiˈoʁ/ [ɐ̃.te.ɾɪˈoh], (faster pronunciation) /ɐ̃.teˈɾjoʁ/ [ɐ̃.teˈɾjoh]
* (Brazil) IPA: /ɐ̃.te.ɾiˈoʁ/ [ɐ̃.te.ɾɪˈoh], (faster pronunciation) /ɐ̃.teˈɾjoʁ/ [ɐ̃.teˈɾjoh]
** (São Paulo) IPA: /ɐ̃.te.ɾiˈoɾ/ [ɐ̃.te.ɾɪˈoɾ], (faster pronunciation) /ɐ̃.teˈɾjoɾ/
** (Rio de Janeiro) IPA: /ɐ̃.te.ɾiˈoʁ/ [ɐ̃.te.ɾɪˈoχ], (faster pronunciation) /ɐ̃.teˈɾjoʁ/ [ɐ̃.teˈɾjoχ]
** (Southern Brazil) IPA: /ɐ̃.te.ɾiˈoɻ/ [ɐ̃.te.ɾɪˈoɻ], (faster pronunciation) /ɐ̃.teˈɾjoɻ/
* (Portugal) IPA: /ɐ̃.tɨˈɾjoɾ/
* (Portugal) IPA: /ɐ̃.tɨˈɾjoɾ/
** (Southern Portugal) IPA: /ɐ̃.tɨˈɾjo.ɾi/
* Hyphenation: an‧te‧ri‧or

### Adjective

anterior m or f (plural anteriores)
* anterior
* previous, preceding

#### Derived terms

* anterioridade
* anteriormente

### Further reading

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

## Romanian
### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin anterior and French antérieur.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /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
## Spanish
### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin anterior.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /anteˈɾjoɾ/ [ãn̪.t̪eˈɾjoɾ]
* Audio (Venezuela):(file)
* Rhymes: -oɾ
* Syllabification: an‧te‧rior

### Adjective

anterior m or f (masculine and feminine 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

### Further reading

* “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