Anterior is the anatomical term for indicating that an organ or structure is towards the front of the body.

It is usually  used to indicate the position in relation to another organ or structure and may mean that it is ‘in front of’ another organ or structure.

For example – in a person who is standing erect, the tip of the nose is anterior to the eyes meaning that the nose tip is in front of or located before the eyes.

The term anterior may also be used to indicate ‘towards the head’ because isolating the front and rear (posterior) orientation may be misleading in certain situations, especially in certain animals.

To prevent ambiguity, anterior is regarded as the position towards the front or in front of another organ or structure when a person is in the standard anatomical position for humans (refer to picture) which is standing erect, with the feet together, upper limbs slightly away from the sides of the body with the palms facing forward and the thumb pointing away from the body.