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• prior
  prior

  adjective

  preceding in time or in order; earlier or former; previous.
• Prior
  Prior

  noun

  Matthew, 1664–1721, English poet.

prior

¹ American  

[prahy-er] / ˈpraɪ ər /

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.

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noun

1. Informal. a prior conviction.

idioms

1. prior to, preceding; before.

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

prior ² American  

[prahy-er] / ˈpraɪ ər /

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.

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Prior ³ American  

[prahy-er] / ˈpraɪ ər /

noun

1. Matthew, 1664–1721, English poet.

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prior ¹ British  

/ ˈpraɪə /

adjective

1. (prenominal) previous; preceding

2. before; until

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noun

1. statistics a prior probability

prior ² British  

/ 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

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Prior ³ British  

/ ˈpraɪə /

noun

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

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Other Word Forms

• priorship
  noun
• subpriorship
  noun
• priorly
  adverb

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Etymology

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

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Explanation

Generally you should eat dinner prior to brushing your teeth. Use the adjective prior for things that exist earlier in time or that happen first in time or order. This is a formal word that is often used in legal language. A prior claim is a person's right to something that is considered more important or valuable because it came first. If you're looking for a less formal synonym, choose the word previous. Prior is from a Latin word with the same spelling.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

prior Prior

They had stressed that the Pope had shown no symptoms of infection or illness prior to the procedure.

From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026

This marked a 12-percent increase from the prior year, when the shortfall came in at $1.78 trillion.

From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026

The German logistics company said Friday that it now expects earnings before interest and taxes to surpass 7 billion euros, or $7.86 billion, compared with a prior forecast of more than 6.5 billion euros.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

Hours later, she pulled back a bit, issuing a statement saying she expects to replace him prior to the end of his term, which concludes in late 2029.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

But the purpose of the drills was to see how rapidly people could reach the room at any hour of the day or night without prior notice.

From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom

Prior to his spell in charge of Maritimo, the 38-year-old spent five years working under Jurgen Klopp as an elite development coach at Liverpool, before joining Red Bull Salzburg as Pep Lijnders' number two.

From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026

Prior reports by county social workers and San José police “documented significant cockroach infestations,” according to the district attorney’s office.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 14, 2026

Prior to this latest episode, investors hadn’t seen such a large spike in the number of negative beta stocks since shortly after the dot-com bubble peaked.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 7, 2026

“He has evolved. Prior to the primary, it was a campaign,” she said.

From Slate ● Oct. 6, 2026

I hear a calm, feminine voice: “Beatrice Prior, second generation. Faction of origin: Abnegation. Selected faction: Dauntless. Confirmed Divergent.”

From "Insurgent" by Veronica Roth

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Related Words

• above-mentioned
• preceding
• previous

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