anterior vs posterior

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. 

posterior

adj
  • Following in order or in time. 

  • Next to, or facing the main stem or axis. 

  • Relating to or denoting presentation of a fetus in which the rear or caudal end is nearest the cervix and emerges first at birth. 

noun
  • The hinder parts of the body. 

  • The probability that a hypothesis is true (calculated by Bayes' theorem). 

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