Word.ws English Dictionary

prior

Syllables: pri·orUK/ˈpɹaɪ.ə//ˈpɹaɪ.(ə)ɹ/

prior adjective: coming before in order or time; earlier, former, previous.

Adjective

prior (not comparable)

  1. Coming before in order or time; earlier, former, previous.
    • His prior residence was smaller than his current one.
    • I had no prior knowledge you were coming.
  2. More important or significant.
  3. (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

prior (comparative more prior, superlative most prior)

  1. Chiefly followed by to: in advance, before, previously.
    • The doctor had known three months prior.
    • 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...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 Dec 2020
    Synonyms:
    ago, hitherto

Noun (1)

prior (plural priors)

  1. (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.
    Antonyms:
    posterior
    1. (broadly, Bayesian statistics) In the rationalsphere: a belief supported by previous evidence or experience that one can use to make inferences about the future.
      • 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 July 29, Dan Roller, “Maran Partners Fund Q2 2022 Letter”, in Seeking Alpha, archived from the original on 08 Dec 2022
      • 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 November 8, Alex Shephard, “The Cards were always Stacked against Democrats”, in Michael Tomasky, editor, The New Republic, New York, N.Y.: The Republic Publishing Company, →ISSN, →OCLC...
  2. (Canada, US, in plural) A previous arrest or criminal conviction on someone's criminal record.
    • 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.1939, Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep, New York, N.Y.: Alfred A[braham] Knopf, published 1966, →OCLC, page 47
    Synonyms:
    antecedent

Noun (2)

prior (plural priors)

  1. In an abbey, the person ranking just after the abbot, appointed as his deputy; a prior claustral.
    • It is not yet an hundred yere a goe, ſince that ſame mayſter doctour was butler in the ſame houſe, whereof I was maiſter and praiour: […]1532, Thomas More, “The Confutacion of [William] Tyndale’s Aunswere […]. The Eyght Booke in which is Confuted Doctour [Robert] Barnes Church.”, in Wyllyam Rastell [i.e., William Rastell], editor, The...
    Synonyms:
    dean, provost
  2. 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.
  3. The head friar of a house of friars.
  4. The head of the Arrouaisian, Augustinian, and formerly Premonstratensian religious orders.
  5. An honorary position held by a priest in some cathedrals.
    • [I]t hath appertained to the Archbishops of Canterbury and York for the space of four hundred years or thereabouts to have spiritual jurisdiction over all your Grace's subjects dwelling within the provinces; […] in the meantime of vacation the same privilege resteth in the churches of Canterbury...1856, James Anthony Froude, “The Parliament of 1529”, in History of England from the Fall of Wolsey to the Death of Elizabeth, volume I, London: John W[illiam] Parker and Son, […], →OCLC, pages...
  6. (historical) A chief magistrate of the Republic of Florence (1115–1569) in what is now Italy.
    • [F]irſt of all among themſelves of the ancienteſt they chuſe three heads or chiefs vvhich they call Priors; and alſo of the youngeſt among them they chuſe tvvo vvho perform the office of Secretaries. The Priors ſit dovvn, having before them a table upon vvhich are placed tvvo balloting boxes of...1673, John Ray, “Of Venice”, in Observations Topographical, Moral, & Physiological; Made in a Journey through part of the Low-countries, Germany, Italy, and France: […], London: […] John Martyn...
  7. (historical) The elected head of a guild of craftsmen or merchants in some countries in Europe and South America.
  8. (obsolete) A person who is the earliest or most prominent in a field; the chief.
  9. (obsolete) The head of a company.

Proper noun capitalized: Prior

Prior

  1. A surname originating as an occupation for someone employed by a prior.
  2. An unincorporated community in Douglas County, Missouri, United States.

prior meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali

prior in Hindi

prior, preceding, former
अग्र agra

prior in Tamil

முன்னதாக

prior in Urdu

in an abbey, the person ranking just after the abbot, appointed as his deputy
پرائر

prior in Bengali

পূর্ববর্তী, আগেকার, পূর্ববৎ, পূর্বতন, পূর্বে
More languagesFewer languages
prior in Malayalam
മുമ്പേയുള്ള, പ്രധാനമായ, പുർവ്വമായ, മുമ്പോട്ടായി
prior in Kannada
ಮುಂಚಿನ, ಹಿಂದಿನ, ಹೆಚ್ಚು ಅರಿದಾದ
prior in Persian
قبلی qabli

Examples of prior in a sentence

  • Lady Marney, duly warned of the impending catastrophe, was experiencing all the advantages of prior information.1845, B[enjamin] Disraeli, chapter VI, in Sybil; or The Two Nations. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, book I, page 83:
  • We fancy that we carve it out; but its ultimate shape is prior to all our action."1860, Nathaniel Hawthorne, “A Sculptor’s Studio”, in The Marble Faun: Or, The Romance of Monte Beni. […], volume I, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor...
  • These reconstructions took place with so great ease and rapidity at Abbeville, […] that there is now scarce vestige left of any building prior to the fifteenth century.1886, John Ruskin, “Rome”, in Præterita. Outlines of Scenes and Thoughts Perhaps Worthy of Memory in My Past Life, volume I, Orpington...
  • [T]he Mayor, […] seemed to have schooled himself into a course of strict mechanical rightness towards this woman of prior claim, at any expense to the later one, and to his own sentiments.1886 May, Thomas Hardy, chapter XIII, in The Mayor of Casterbridge: The Life and Death of a Man of Character. […], volume I, London: Smith...

All 40 example sentences with prior

Synonyms of prior

12 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of prior

Forms of prior

Adverb
comparativemore prior
superlativemost prior
Noun
pluralpriors
alternative formpriour
Proper noun
alternative formPryor

Plural of prior: priors

Origin of prior

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.

Words formed from prior

Phrases with prior

Words that rhyme with prior

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about prior

What does prior mean?
Prior means coming before in order or time; earlier, former, previous.
What is prior in Hindi?
Prior in Hindi is अग्र (agra). See Prior meaning in Hindi.
How do you use prior in a sentence?
Lady Marney, duly warned of the impending catastrophe, was experiencing all the advantages of prior information.
What part of speech is prior?
Prior can be an adjective, an adverb, a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce prior?
Prior is pronounced /ˈpɹaɪ.ə/ (UK).

Words near prior in the dictionary

  1. prionoses
  2. prionosis
  3. prions
  4. prionsialia
  5. prionuria
  6. prior
  7. prior art
  8. prior authorization
  9. prior claustral
  10. prior conventual
  11. prior knowledge

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: prior (page history and authors); Prior (page history and authors); अग्र (Hindi) (page history and authors); prior (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); prior (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); prior (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); prior (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-prior.ogg.

Cite this entry: “prior.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/prior. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.