anterior (anterior)

[L., compar. adj., as if from * anterus, Intellect is the simple power anterior to all action or construction. Emerson, E ays, 1st ser., p. 295. 3. In zoöl. and zoöt., nearer the head, as opposed to posterior; cephalal, as opposed to caudal; oral, as opposed to aboral: thus, the head is anterior to the neck, which is itself anterior to the trunk and tail.-4. In human an at., situated in front, with respect to that side of the body on which is the face; ventral, as opposed 236 to dorsal; hemal, as opposed to neural: as, the anterior pillars of the pharynx; the anterior walls of the belly; the anterior pillars of the spinal cord. The two parts into which the iris divides the eye are called the anterior and posterior chambers. Brewster , Optics, p. 288. ( N. E. D.) 5. In bot., in axillary inflorescence, noting the side most distant from the axis and nearest the subtending leaf or bract: as, the anterior side of a flower: otherwise called inferior or lower. [In all its senses usually followed by to before an object.] = Syn. 2. See previous. [