prior

See also Prior

English

Etymology

From Latin prior

Pronunciation

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪə(r)

Adjective

prior (not comparable)

1. Of that which comes before, in advance.

   I had no prior knowledge you were coming.

2. former, previous

   His prior residence was smaller than his current one.

Synonyms

• See also Wikisaurus:former

Derived terms

• prior to

Translations

Of that which comes before, in advance

• Spanish: previo (es)

former — see former

Adverb

prior (comparative more prior, superlative most prior)

1. (colloquial) Previously.

   The doctor had known three months prior.

Translations

previously — see previously

Noun

Wikipedia prior (plural priors)

1. A high-ranking member of a monastery, usually lower in rank than an abbot.
2. (US slang) A previous arrest or criminal conviction on someone's record. [from 19th c.]
   • 1939, Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep, Penguin 2011, p. 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.’

3. (statistics) In Bayesian inference, a prior probability distribution. [from 20th c.]

Translations

a high-ranking member of a monastery, usually lower in rank than an abbot

• Czech: převor (cs) m
• Finnish: priori (fi)
• French: prieur (fr) m
• German: Prior (de) m
• Irish: prióir (ga) m

• Italian: priore (it) m
• Polish: przeor (pl) m
• Russian: приор (ru) (priór) m , настоятель (ru) (nastojátelʹ) m 
• Spanish: prior (es) m

a previous criminal offense on someone's record

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 前科 (cmn) (qiánkē)

• Finnish: aiempi tuomio, aiempi rangaistus
• German: Vorstrafe (de) f

a prior probability distribution

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Latin

Etymology

Comparative of Old Latin *pri (“before”), from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“beyond”), *pro (“before”).

Adjective

prior comparative, m./f. sing., third declension (superlative: prīmus)

1. former, previous, prior
2. in front
3. (figuratively) better, superior
4. (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).

Inflection

• Third declension, comparative variation (3:COM).

Number	Singular			Plural
Case \ Gender	M.F.	N.		MM.FF.	NN.
nominative	prior	prius		priōrēs	priōra
genitive	priōris	priōris		priōrum	priōrum
dative	priōrī	priōrī		priōribus	priōribus
accusative	priōrem	prius		priōrēs	priōra
ablative	priōre	priōre		priōribus	priōribus
vocative	prior	prius		priōrēs	priōra

Related terms

• prīmus
• priōrēs

Descendants

• English: prior
• Italian: priore
• Romanian: prior
• Spanish: prior