anterograde
|an-te-ro-grade|
🇺🇸
/ˈæn.təˌɡreɪd/
🇬🇧
/ˈæn.tə.ɡreɪd/
moving forward
Etymology
'anterograde' is formed in English from the combining element 'antero-' (meaning 'forward' or 'before') + 'grade' (from Latin 'gradus', 'step'), used in medical and scientific contexts.
'anterograde' developed from New Latin/Modern scientific coinages that combined Latin elements 'ante-' (before) and 'gradus' (step). The combining form 'antero-' arose in scientific usage (19th century), and the English adjective 'anterograde' was established through medical literature.
Initially built as a literal sense 'forward-stepping' or 'toward the front', it came to be used specifically in biology and medicine for 'moving forward' processes and later as a standard term in neurology for the directionality of memory impairment ('unable to form new memories' sense attached to 'anterograde amnesia').
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
a forward movement or process (especially in biological contexts: anterograde transport); occasionally used to refer to an instance or case of anterograde amnesia.
The study examined several anterogrades in axonal transport under different conditions.
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Adjective 1
directed or moving forward from a point of reference (used in anatomy, physiology, and cell biology; e.g., anterograde transport along an axon).
Viruses can spread via anterograde transport within neurons.
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Adjective 2
relating to or denoting loss of the ability to form new memories after the onset of a disorder or injury (as in 'anterograde amnesia').
After the head injury he developed anterograde amnesia and could not remember events that occurred afterward.
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Last updated: 2025/08/23 05:18