previously

American  

[pree-vee-uhs-lee] / ˈpri vi əs li /

adverb

1. before now; earlier.

   The evidence now shows a strong likelihood that sea levels will rise more rapidly than previously thought.

   The author was previously managing editor of a multimedia lifestyle company that produced a magazine, website, and newsletters.

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Etymology

Origin of previously

previous ( def. ) + -ly

Explanation

The adverb previously is good for talking about something that happened in the past. If you've read a novel previously, you might just skim it before your book group meets to discuss it. When you talk about things that happened before, whether recently or in the distant past, the word previously can be helpful. You could mention at a job interview that before your current job, you were previously employed as a flight attendant, or tell a date that though you're single now, you were previously married to a famous movie star. Previously comes from the adjective previous, with its Latin root praevius, "going before," from prae, "before," and via, "road."

Example Sentences

Previously, these services were only available to Amazon’s selling partners.

From MarketWatch • May 4, 2026

"Previously, these models basically had random regions of polarization, but they didn't tell you how those regions correlate with each other," Xu says.

From Science Daily • May 4, 2026

Previously, Georgi was stationed in Berlin, writing about the global implications of the Ukraine war.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 3, 2026

Previously, schools or organisations were inspected every four years - or within 30 months, depending on their status - and were given one of four overall grades:

From BBC • Apr. 30, 2026

Previously a golden fountain had filled the center of the hall, casting shimmering spots of light over the polished wooden floor and walls.

From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling

Related Words

• already
• formerly
• heretofore
• hitherto
• once
• then