'anteriad' originates from New Latin/medical Latin, built from the Latin prefix 'ante-' meaning 'before' (in front of) and the adverbial/locative suffix '-ad' meaning 'toward'.

'anteriad' was formed in post-classical/New Latin by combining 'ante-' with the adverbial ending '-ad' (analogous to formations like 'posteriad' and influenced by the adjective 'anterior'), and was adopted into English in specialized anatomical and biological contexts.

Initially and historically it meant 'toward the front' (i.e., in an anterior direction), and this primary sense has been retained in modern technical usage.