'front-ventral' originates from Modern English as a compound of 'front' and 'ventral'; 'front' comes ultimately from Old French/Old English (from Latin 'frons' meaning 'forehead, front') and 'ventral' derives from Latin 'ventralis', related to 'venter' meaning 'belly'.

'front-ventral' formed by combining the English word 'front' (from Old French/Old English roots) with 'ventral' (from Medieval Latin 'ventralis', from Latin 'venter'), and has been adopted in modern anatomical/biological usage as a compound descriptor.

Individually, 'front' historically meant 'fore or forehead area' and 'ventral' originally meant 'relating to the belly'; together they came to denote a specific positional sense: toward the front on the belly side of an organism.