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• prius
  prius

  adjective

  (in prescriptions) before; former.
• Prius
  Prius

  noun

  a brand of hybrid car, one of the first commercially successful, that runs at lower speeds on an electric motor powered by a battery pack, and at higher speeds on a gasoline engine, which can also recharge the battery.

prius

¹ American  

[prahy-uhs] / ˈpraɪ əs /

adjective

1. (in prescriptions) before; former.

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Prius ² American  

[pree-uhs] / ˈpri əs /

noun

Trademark.

Prii plural

1. a brand of hybrid car, one of the first commercially successful, that runs at lower speeds on an electric motor powered by a battery pack, and at higher speeds on a gasoline engine, which can also recharge the battery.

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Etymology

Origin of prius¹

Borrowed into English from Latin around 1890–95

Origin of Prius²

1997; from the Latin prius meaning “coming before”; also related to such English words as “prior” and “primary”

Example Sentences

From our point of view Mind has for its presupposition Nature, of which it is the truth, and for that reason its absolute prius.

From Hegel's Philosophy of Mind by Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich

Two years subsequently it was necessary to make a new act to allow all technical terms to continue Latin, which were too ridiculous to be translated, such as nisi prius, fieri facias, habeas corpus.

From Amenities of Literature Consisting of Sketches and Characters of English Literature by Disraeli, Isaac

Nam de ratione mutationis est quod aliquid idem se habeat aliter nunc et prius....

From Ontology or the Theory of Being by Coffey, Peter

Sic ergo tempus habet prius et posterius, aevum non habet in se prius et posterius, sed ei conjungi possunt; aeternitas autem non habet prius neque posterius, neque ea compatitur.”—St.

From Ontology or the Theory of Being by Coffey, Peter

He was great at nisi prius and before an appellate tribunal.

From Abraham Lincoln, Volume 2 (of 2) The True Story of a Great Life by Herndon, William H.