anterior
UK/anˈtɪə.ɹi.ə//ænˈtɪɹ.i.ɚ/
anterior adjective: nearer the forward end, especially in the front of the body; nearer the head or forepart of an animal.
Adjective
anterior (not comparable)
- Nearer the forward end, especially in the front of the body; nearer the head or forepart of an animal.
- 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, Carole Hollins, Questions and Answers for Dental Nurses, page 44
- 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.2013 February 6, Jen Christiensen, “Vonn’s injury ‘career-delayer,’ not ‘career ender’”, in CNN
- (of a part of a flower or leaf) Situated further away from the mainstem.
- Pronounced with an obstruction located in front of the palato-alveolar region of the mouth, e.g. b, p, d, t.
- Coming before or earlier in time or development, prior to, preceding.
- anterior to the time when mankind have become capable of being improved by free and equal discussion.1859, John Stuart Mill, On Liberty
anterior meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Malayalam and Kannada
anterior in Tamil
- முன்னால், முன்னே, முன்புற, முன்புறம், முற்பக்கமான, முன்பகுதி
anterior in Urdu
- سالف
anterior in Malayalam
- anterior, front
- മുൻ muṉ
anterior in Kannada
- ಮುಂದಿನ, ಹಿಂದಿನ, ಮುಂಚಿನ, ಮುಂಭಾಗ, ಮುಂಭಾಗದ, ಪೂರ್ವದ
More languagesFewer languages
- anterior in Arabic
- أَمَامِيّ ʔamāmiyy
- anterior in Indonesian
- anterior
Examples of anterior in a sentence
- Lower jaw with several rows at anterior, outer row enlarged, posterior teeth larger but not caninoid.
- Excisional biopsy of the nodule was performed by anterior orbitotomy with local anesthesia.
- The rib is separated from the anterior margin of the sacricostal yoke by a slit-like fenestra.
Antonyms of anterior
Forms of anterior
| alternative form (obsolete) | anteriour |
|---|
Origin of anterior
Borrowed from Latin anterior (“that is before, foremost”).
Words formed from anterior
- 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
Phrases with anterior
- anterior walls
- anterior chambers
- anterior deltoids
- anterior triangles
- anterior commissures
- anterior pituitaries
- anterior median fissures
- anterior spinal arteries
- anterior ciliary arteries
- anterior pituitary glands
- anterior auricular muscles
- anterior cerebral arteries
9 more phrasesFewer phrases
Words that rhyme with anterior
- superior
- inferior
- ulterior
- exterior
- interior
- posterior
- anteroposterior
- dorsoposterior
- posteroanterior
- superoinferior
- anteroinferior
- anterosuperior
41 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- apicoposterior
- centroanterior
- centroposterior
- citerior
- distoanterior
- distoposterior
- dorsoanterior
- frontoposterior
- Homo Superior
- inferoanterior
- inferoposterior
- lateroanterior
- lateroinferior
- lateroposterior
- laterosuperior
- medioposterior
- mediosuperior
- mentoanterior
- mentoposterior
- mesioposterior
- mesoanterior
- midanterior
- midposterior
- noninferior
- nonposterior
- nonsuperior
- occipitoanterior
- occipitoposterior
- posteroinferior
- posterosuperior
- proximoposterior
- sacroanterior
- sacroposterior
- sinistroposterior
- subanterior
- subposterior
- superoanterior
- superoposterior
- temporosuperior
- ventroanterior
- ventroposterior
Questions about anterior
- What does anterior mean?
- Anterior means nearer the forward end, especially in the front of the body; nearer the head or forepart of an animal.
- What is anterior in Tamil?
- Anterior in Tamil is முன்னால், முன்னே, முன்புற. See Anterior meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is anterior?
- Anterior is an adjective.
- How do you pronounce anterior?
- Anterior is pronounced /anˈtɪə.ɹi.ə/ (UK).
Words near anterior in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: anterior (page history and authors); anterior (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); anterior (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); മുൻ (Malayalam) (page history and authors); anterior (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-anterior.ogg.
Cite this entry: “anterior.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/anterior. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.