prior

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See also: Prior and prior to

English

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Latin prior, comparative of Old Latin *pri (“before”), from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“beyond”), *pró (“before”). Parallel to English former, as comparative form from same Proto-Indo-European root, whence also fore (thence before).

Adjective

prior (not comparable)

  1. Advance; previous; coming before.
    I had no prior knowledge you were coming.
  2. Former, previous.
    His prior residence was smaller than his current one.
Usage notes
Synonyms
Antonyms
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
former — see former

Adverb

prior (comparative more prior, superlative most prior)

  1. (colloquial) Previously.
    Synonyms: ago, hitherto
    The doctor had known three months prior.
    • 2019 April 14, Alex McLevy, “Winter is Here on Game of Thrones’ Final Season Premiere (Newbies)”, in The A.V. Club‎, archived from the original on 18 December 2020:
      From the opening shots of the anonymous young Winterfell boy rushing to catch a glimpse of Jon Snow and Queen Daenerys Targaryen, hearkening back to those moments of the very first episode in which Arya rushed to do the same with an approaching King Robert Baratheon, the series is calling back to its beginning, suggesting (at least for now) that the wheel continues to turn, sending us back into a pattern begun seven seasons prior.
Translations
previously — see previously

Noun

prior (plural priors)

  1. (US, law enforcement) A previous arrest or criminal conviction on someone's record.
    • 1939, Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep, Penguin, published 2011, page 53:
      ‘And a little later we get the routine report on his prints from Washington, and he's got a prior back in Indiana, attempted hold-up six years ago.’
  2. (statistics, Bayesian inference) A prior probability distribution, one based on information or belief before additional data is collected.
    Coordinate term: posterior
  3. (rationalist community, by extension) A belief supported by previous evidence or experience that one can use to make inferences about the future.
    • 2022 July 29, “Maran Partners Fund Q2 2022 Letter”, in Seeking Alpha‎:
      During each of these touchpoints, I'm asking myself where and how my thesis on each holding could be wrong. I'm checking each data point as it comes in against my priors. I'm comparing management behavior to what I would be doing if I were in their shoes.
    • 2022 November 8, Alex Shephard, “The Cards Were Always Stacked Against Democrats”, in New Republic‎:
      The votes are in, and our priors are confirmed. The truth is that midterms are nearly as predictable as death and taxes: The party that controls the White House always loses and often badly at that.
    • 2022 December 6, David Harsanyi, “Why Elon Musk’s ‘Twitter Files’ Matter”, in The Federalist‎:
      Mostly because the evidence confirms all my priors.
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English priour, prior, from Old English prior, Old French prior, and their etymon Latin prior.

Noun

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

prior (plural priors)

  1. A high-ranking member of a monastery, usually lower in rank than an abbot.
  2. (historical) A chief magistrate in Italy.
Synonyms
  • (second-in-command to an abbot): provost
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations

References

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin priōrem.

Pronunciation

Noun

prior m (plural priors, feminine priora)

  1. prior (a high-ranking member of a monastery)

Related terms

Further reading

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *priōs, from earlier *prijōs, from *pri + *-jōs, thus the comparative degree of Old Latin *pri (“before”), from Proto-Italic *pri from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“beyond”), *pró (“before”).

Pronunciation

Adjective

prior (neuter prius, superlative prīmus); third-declension comparative adjective

  1. former, prior, previous, earlier (preceding in time)
    priore anno ― the year before, the previous year; during the year before
    priore aestate ― the previous summer
    priore nocte ― the previous night
    • 27 BCE – 25 BCE, Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita 26.1:
      Q. Fuluio Ap. Claudio, prioris anni consulibus, prorogatum imperium est atque exercitus quos habebant decreti, adiectumque ne a Capua quam obsidebant abscederent priusquam expugnassent.
      The military authority of Quintus Fulvius and Appius Claudius, consuls of the previous year, was extended and the armies which they had were decided upon, and it was added as a proviso that they should not withdraw from Capua, which they were besieging, until they conquered it.
  2. the first, the original
  3. in front
  4. (figuratively) better, superior
    • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 4.321–323:
      “ tē propter eundem / exstīnctus pudor et, quā sōlā sīdera adībam, / fāma prior. ”
      “Likewise, because of you, my sense of honor is gone, and a better reputation which was my only way to the stars.”
      (As a widow, Dido's chastity and devotion to the memory of her first husband would have been well-regarded in Augustan Rome.)
  5. (substantive, Medieval Latin) abbot, prior

Usage notes

  • This adjective has no positive form; rather, it serves as the comparative (prior) and superlative (prīmus) of the preposition prae. (Compare the preposition post, with comparative posterior and superlative postremus).

Declension

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Number Singular Plural
Case / Gender Masc./Fem. Neuter Masc./Fem. Neuter
Nominative prior prius priōrēs priōra
Genitive priōris priōrum
Dative priōrī priōribus
Accusative priōrem prius priōrēs priōra
Ablative priōre priōribus
Vocative prior prius priōrēs priōra

Derived terms

Related terms

Descendants

References

  • “prior”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • “prior”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • prior in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
  • prior in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
  • Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co.
    • last year: superiore, priore anno
    • (ambiguous) there is nothing I am more interested in than..: nihil antiquius or prius habeo quam ut (nihil mihi antiquius or potius est, quam ut)

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin prior.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈpɾjoɾ/
  • Rhymes: -oɾ
  • Syllabification: prior

Noun

prior m (plural priores, feminine priora, feminine plural prioras)

  1. prior (a high-ranking member of a monastery)

Derived terms

Related terms

Further reading

Wikious
Boobota
Sagapedia