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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

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

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

Two months prior to Clarke's appointment, the national team had been humiliated in Kazakhstan.

From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026

Former Times staff writer Michael Kupper wrote this obituary prior to his death in 2025.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026

Not that public equities have stopped working; it’s just that an increasing share of value creation now happens prior to the IPO — and somewhere public investors cannot reach.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026

Manufacturing shipments rose 0.1% from the prior month to a seasonally adjusted 78.82 billion Canadian dollars, equivalent to about US$56.58 billion, Statistics Canada said Friday.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

During the six months prior to the dinner at Jefferson’s quarters, Madison went through a conversion process, or perhaps a reconversion, from the religion of nationalism to the old revolutionary faith of Virginia.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis

Prior to that, a cluster arrived in May and June, according to data shared by SentimenTrader.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026

Prior to joining the Journal in 2020, Josh worked in video journalism in Washington, D.C., covering politics and making explainers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026

Prior to that period, they had been expensive, detailed display pieces for wealthy adults, often handcrafted in Europe.

From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026

Prior to the hearing, Paul released thousands of pages of the immunologist's personal diary.

From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026

Prior to 9/11, terrorists were prosecuted in civilian courts.

From Nazi Saboteurs by Samantha Seiple

Related Words

• above-mentioned
• preceding
• previous