prior

¹

[prahy-er]

adjective

1. preceding in time or in order; earlier or former; previous.

   A prior agreement prevents me from accepting this.

   Synonyms: antecedent, anterior

2. preceding in importance or privilege.

noun

1. Informal.,  a prior conviction.

prior

²

[prahy-er]

noun

1. an officer in a monastic order or religious house, sometimes next in rank below an abbot.

2. a chief magistrate, as in the medieval republic of Florence.

Prior

³

[prahy-er]

noun

1. Matthew, 1664–1721, English poet.

prior

¹

/ ˈpraɪə /

adjective

1. (prenominal) previous; preceding

2. before; until

noun

1. statistics a prior probability

prior

²

/ ˈpraɪə /

noun

1. the superior of a house and community in certain religious orders

2. the deputy head of a monastery or abbey, ranking immediately below the abbot

3. (formerly) a chief magistrate in medieval Florence and other Italian republics

Prior

³

/ ˈpraɪə /

noun

1. Matthew. 1664–1721, English poet and diplomat, noted for his epigrammatic occasional verse

Other Word Forms

• priorly adverb
• priorship noun
• subpriorship noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of prior¹

First recorded in 1705–15; from Latin: “former, elder, superior” (adjective), “before” (adverb); akin to pre-, prime

Origin of prior²

First recorded before 1100; Middle English, late Old English, from Medieval Latin, Late Latin: “one superior in rank”; noun use of prior prior ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of prior¹

C18: from Latin: previous

Origin of prior²

C11: from Late Latin: head, from Latin (adj): previous, from Old Latin pri before

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. prior to, preceding; before.

   Prior to that time, buffalo had roamed the Great Plains in tremendous numbers.

Example Sentences

The Headingley-based franchise finished bottom of the standings in the year before he took over and sixth and fifth in the two seasons prior.

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The email address was changed only a week before the outage, but telcos had been told about the impending switch two weeks prior, the federal communications deparment said.

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The Senate appropriations bill similarly rejects the deep cuts proposed by the White House, but proposes holding the Science Mission Directorate funding at $7.3 billion, the same as the year prior.

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District Judge R. Gary Klausner that the 18 months prior to that call were “perhaps the most difficult time of my life.”

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Police said three other dives, which took place near Nashville's John C Tune airport, were successfully completed prior to the fatal fall.

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Related Words

• above-mentioned www.thesaurus.com
• preceding 
• previous