anterior
Pronunciation
Etymology
It is borrowed from Latin anterior (“earlier, previous”),[2][3][4][5] partly also borrowed from Middle French anterieur, now antérieur.[2][6][7][8] Barnhart thinks the Latin source more likely than the French one.[9] The Latin word is a comparative formed from ante (“before”),[4][3][10][11] on the model of its opposite posterior, as if from an unrecorded *anterus.[9][12][6] In classical Latin it meant "earlier, previous" (2nd century AD), and in post-classical Latin also "situated in front" (4th century); the French word had the sense "situated in front" by 1488 and "earlier" by 1531.[2] Etymonline traces ante to Proto-Indo-European *ant- (“front, forehead”).[3]
Earliest recorded meaning
In anatomy, situated in the front part of the body or of an organ: about 1541, in Robert Copland's translation of Guy de Chauliac's Questyonary of Cyrurgyens.[2][13] Barnhart and Etymonline date the word only from 1611, in Cotgrave's French–English dictionary, with the sense "toward the front, fore".[9][3]
Semantic evolution
The word came in as a term of anatomy, the opposite of posterior,[2][13] and was soon used of time and order as well: "earlier, preceding" from 1591, and with to ("anterior to") from 1608.[2] The general sense "facing forward, front" follows in 1611, botany took it up for parts in front of or turned away from the axis by 1754, and phonetics for sounds made with the tongue against the hard palate by 1830.[2] In human anatomy, where the body stands upright, anterior means toward the belly, the same as ventral.[13][8] Etymonline dates the adverb anteriorly from the 1590s.[3]
Timeline
- c. 1541 – in anatomy, situated at the front of the body or of an organ.[2][13]
- 1591 – earlier, preceding in time or order.[2]
- 1608 – anterior to, earlier than.[2]
- 1611 – facing forward, front; in Cotgrave's dictionary.[2][9]
- 1754 – in botany, in front of another part, or turned away from the axis.[2]
- 1830 – in phonetics, articulated against the hard palate.[2]
Meanings
Adjective
- Situated at or toward the front; the opposite of posterior.[14][13][2]
- In anatomy and zoology, situated toward the head end, or in humans toward the belly side (ventral): the anterior wall of the chest.[13][14][8]
- Earlier in time or order; prior: events anterior to the war.[14][2]
- In botany, of a part of a flower or leaf, situated farthest from the main stem.[14][2]
- In phonetics, articulated with the tongue against or toward the hard palate.[2]
Word family
- anteriorly
- nonanterior
Related words
References
- ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
- ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
- ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
- ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
- ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
- ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins