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an·te·ri·or (ăn-tîrē-ər)
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adj.
1. Placed before or in front.
2. Occurring before in time; earlier.
3. Anatomy
a. Located near or toward the head in lower animals.
b. Located on or near the front of the body in higher animals.
c. Located on or near the front of an organ or on the ventral surface of the body in humans.
4. Botany In front of and facing away from the axis or stem.
[Latin, comparative of ante, before; see ant- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]
an·te′ri·ori·ty (-ôrĭ-tē, -ŏr-) n.
an·teri·or·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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