lantériorité

L’antériorité, or l’antériorité temporelle, is the relation that holds between two events, states, or propositions when the first occurs before the second. It is a basic notion in fields that study temporal order, including philosophy, linguistics, and logic, and it is contrasted with posteriorité (being after) and simultanéité (at the same time).

Etymology and usage. The term derives from Latin ante- meaning “before” and a suffix forming abstract nouns from adjectives such as antérieur. In French, antériorité designates more than a simple sequence; it conveys the temporal priority of one element relative to another.

In linguistics and grammar. Antériorité is used to describe how languages encode events that occur earlier than another reference point. In Romance languages, this is often expressed through compound tenses that mark anteriority, such as the French plus-que-parfait. For example: Quand il arriva, j’avais déjà mangé. Here, l’action de manger est antérieure à celle d’arriver. Antériorité thus helps interpret the temporal ordering of events from a given perspective.

In logic and temporal semantics. Antériorité denotes the ordering relation where one interval or event is positioned before another. It is a fundamental primitive in temporal reasoning and is formalized in various frameworks, including temporal logics and interval algebras (where “before” is a primary relation).

Other uses. In some legal or doctrinal contexts, antériorité can refer to the priority of dates, rights, or claims established by earlier occasions or documents. The term is generally paired with posteriorité for a complete account of temporal relations.

See also: posteriorité, simultanéité, temporal logic, tense and aspect.