anteriores
Anteriores is the plural form of the Spanish adjective anterior, meaning that it describes something that precedes another thing in time or in position. The word agrees with the noun it modifies, so it can appear as anteriores for masculine or mixed groups, and también as anteriores for feminine plural: los años anteriores, las partes anteriores. In practice, anteriores is used to indicate prior or front-facing elements.
Anteriores derives from Latin anterior, meaning “before.” In Spanish, it is employed across several domains to
- Temporal: referring to past periods or events, as in años anteriores (previous years) or semanas anteriores
- Spatial/anatomical: designating the front or forward-facing portions of a structure, such as extremidades anteriores (anterior limbs)
- Discursive/linguistic: used in descriptions of sequences or relations, often paired with terms like posterior to mark
Anterior (singular) as the base form; posterior as its opposite. In technical fields, more precise terms may