'anteriority' originates from French, specifically the word 'antériorité', where the root 'antérieur' ultimately comes from Latin 'ante' meaning 'before'.

'anteriority' changed from Middle French 'antériorité' (and Latin 'anterior', comparative of 'ante') and eventually entered English as the modern noun 'anteriority'.

Initially it meant 'the state of being before' (in time or place), and over time it retained this sense, now used for temporal precedence and anatomical frontness.