prior
UK /ˈpɹaɪ.ə/ · US /ˈpɹaɪ.(ə)ɹ/ adjective, adverb, noun, proper noun
Forms priors priour Pryor
- adjective Coming before in order or time; earlier, former, previous. “His prior residence was smaller than his current one.”
- adjective More important or significant.
- adjective (Bayesian statistics) Chiefly in prior probability: of the probability of an event: determined without knowledge of the occurrence of other events that bear on it, before additional data is collected.
- adverb Chiefly followed by to: in advance, before, previously. “The doctor had known three months prior.”
- noun (Bayesian statistics) A prior probability distribution, that is, one determined without knowledge of the occurrence of other events that bear on it, before additional data is collected.
- noun (by extension) In the rationalsphere: a belief supported by previous evidence or experience that one can use to make inferences about the future.
- noun (Canada, US, law enforcement, chiefly in the plural) A previous arrest or criminal conviction on someone's criminal record.
- noun In an abbey, the person ranking just after the abbot, appointed as his deputy; a prior claustral.
- noun The head of a priory (“a monastery which is usually a branch of an abbey”), or some other minor or smaller monastery; a prior conventual.
- noun The head friar of a house of friars.
- noun The head of the Arrouaisian, Augustinian, and formerly Premonstratensian religious orders.
- noun An honorary position held by a priest in some cathedrals.
- noun A chief magistrate of the Republic of Florence (1115–1569) in what is now Italy.
- noun The elected head of a guild of craftsmen or merchants in some countries in Europe and South America.
- noun A person who is the earliest or most prominent in a field; the chief.
- proper noun A surname originating as an occupation for someone employed by a prior.
- proper noun An unincorporated community in Douglas County, Missouri, United States.
Synonyms
advance antecedent anterior earlier erstwhile ex foregone former hitherto old olden past preceding precedent previous quondam sometime used-to-be whilom ago
Antonyms
Etymology
The adjective is a learned borrowing from Latin prior (“earlier, former, previous, prior; in front; (figurative) better, superior”), from Proto-Italic *priōs (“earlier, previous”, literally “more before”), ultimately from *pri (“before”) (from Proto-Indo-European *pró (“leading to, toward”) and its etymon *per- (“before, in front; first”)) + *-jōs (suffix forming comparative adjectives). Doublet of before, fore, and former.
The adverb and noun are derived from the adjective.
From Middle English priour, prior (“head or deputy head of a monastery or other religious house; predecessor; superior”), from Old English prior, from Anglo-Norman priour, prior, priur, and Old French prior, priur (modern French prieur), and directly from their etymon Latin prior (“ancestor; predecessor”) (whence Late Latin prior (“superior of a religious house or order; abbot; deputy abbot; head of a guild”)), a noun use of prior (“former, previous, prior”, adjective): see etymology 1.
From Middle English Prior, Priur (surname), from Middle English prior, priour (“prior”). More at prior.
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Preceding in the order of time; former; antecedent; anterior; previous; as, a prior discovery; prior obligation; --used elliptically in cases like the following: he lived alone [in the time] prior to his marriage.
- noun The superior of a priory, and next below an abbot in dignity.
Etymology [L. prior former, previous, better, superior; compar. corresponding to primus first, and pro for. See Former, and cf. Prime, a., and Pre-, Pro-.]
Etymology [OE. priour, OF. priour, prior, priur, F. prieur, from L. prior former, superior. See Prior, a.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “prior”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details