| 1. | situated before or at the front of; fore (opposed to posterior ). |
| 2. | going before in time or sequence; preceding; earlier: events anterior to the outbreak of war. |
| 3. | Linguistics. (in distinctive feature analysis) articulated in the region extending from the alveolar ridge to the lips; alveolar, dental, or labial. |
| 4. | (in animals and embryos) pertaining to or toward the head or forward end of the body. |
| 5. | (in humans) pertaining to or toward the front plane of the body, equivalent to the ventral surface of quadrupeds. |
| 6. | Botany. on the front side and away from the main axis, as the lower lip of a flower. |
anterior an·te·ri·or (ān-tēr'ē-ər)
adj.
Placed before or in front.
Occurring before in time; earlier.
Of or relating to the front surface of the body, especially of the position of one structure relative to another; ventral.
Near the head or rostral end of certain embryos.