anterior vs first

anterior

adj
  • Coming before or earlier in time or development, prior to, preceding. 

  • Pronounced with an obstruction located in front of the palato-alveolar region of the mouth, e.g. b, p, d, t. 

  • (of a part of a flower or leaf) Situated further away from the mainstem. 

  • Nearer the forward end, especially in the front of the body; nearer the head or forepart of an animal. 

first

adj
  • Preceding all others of a series or kind; the ordinal of one; earliest. 

  • Of or belonging to a first family. 

  • Most eminent or exalted; most excellent; chief; highest. 

adv
  • For the first time. 

  • Before anything else; firstly. 

  • Now. 

noun
  • first base 

  • A first-edition copy of some publication. 

  • A fraction whose (integer) denominator ends in the digit 1. 

  • The first gear of an engine. 

  • Something that has never happened before; a new occurrence. 

  • A first-class honours degree. 

  • The person or thing in the first position. 

How often have the words anterior and first occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )