Anterior
/ænˈtɪəriər/noun
Situated in the front or earlier in time.
Did you know?Anterior comes from Latin *ante* (“before, in front of”), the same root family that gave English *anticipate* and *antique*, so the word literally encodes “before-ness” into the body.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*h₂ent-
“front, forehead”
Latin
Latin
ante
“before, in front of”
Latin
Latin
anterior
“more in front, former”
Late Latin
Latin
anterior
“more in front; prior”
Middle English
English
anterior
“situated toward the front; earlier”
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