anterior vs prior

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. 

prior

adj
  • Advance; previous; coming before. 

  • Former, previous. 

noun
  • A high-ranking member of a monastery, usually lower in rank than an abbot. 

  • A prior probability distribution, one based on information or belief before additional data is collected. 

  • A belief supported by previous evidence or experience that one can use to make inferences about the future. 

  • A chief magistrate in Italy. 

  • A previous arrest or criminal conviction on someone's record. 

adv
  • Previously. 

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