a priori

See also: apriori

English

WOTD – 1 February 2012

Alternative forms

• apriori

Etymology

First attested in 1610, from Latin ā priōrī (literally “from the former”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (anglicized) /ˌeɪ pɹaɪˈɔːɹaɪ/, (Latinist) /ˌɑː pɹiˈɔːɹi/

  • Audio (UK)

    (file)

Adjective

a priori (comparative more a priori, superlative most a priori)

1. (logic) Based on hypothesis rather than experiment.

   In his opening argument, the student mentioned nothing beyond his a priori knowledge.

2. Self-evident, intuitively obvious.
3. Presumed without analysis.
   • 1996, Jeet Heer, Gravitas, Autumn 1996

     While the great critics drew their authority from the breadth of their reading, New Criterion critics often base their authority on an a priori rejection of the contemporary.

4. (linguistics, of a constructed language) Developed entirely from scratch, without deriving it from existing languages.
   • 2012 November 1, Wright, Laura, “UT Language Creation Society invites students to learn origins of newer languages”, in The Daily Texan‎^[1]:

     Conlangers can also create a priori languages, which have no basis in existing languages. You might be familiar with more a priori conlangs than you think: The Klingon language from the television series “Star Trek,” the Na’vi language from the movie “Avatar,” and the Dothraki language from the television series “Game of Thrones” are all examples of a priori languages.

Antonyms

• a posteriori

Derived terms

• apriorism
• apriorist
• aprioristic
• apriority

 

Related terms

• a fortiori

Translations

(logic) based on hypothesis rather than experiment.

• Arabic: مُسَلَّم بِه‎ (musallam bih), لَا يُحْتَاجُ إِثْبَاتَة إِلَى تَجْرِبَة‎ (lā yuḥtāju ʾiṯbāta(t) ʾilā tajriba)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 先驗 (zh), 先验 (zh) (xiānyàn)

• Finnish: apriorinen, hypoteettinen (fi)
• Greek: επαγωγικός (el) (epagogikós), συμπερασματικός (el) (symperasmatikós)
• Italian: a priori (it), teorico (it), preconcetto (it)

• Japanese: please add this translation if you can
• Korean: please add this translation if you can
• Portuguese: a priori (pt)
• Russian: априо́рный (ru) (apriórnyj), доо́пытный (ru) (doópytnyj), предположи́тельный (ru) (predpoložítelʹnyj)
• Tagalog: matwiranin

Adverb

a priori (comparative more a priori, superlative most a priori)

1. (logic) In a way based on theoretical deduction rather than empirical observation.

Translations

derived by logic

• Arabic: مُسَبَّق‎ (musabbaq)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 先驗 (zh), 先验 (zh) (xiānyàn)

• Czech: a priori
• Dutch: a priori (nl)
• Finnish: apriorisesti
• French: a priori (fr)
• Galician: a priori
• Georgian: აპრიორი (aṗriori)
• German: a priori (de)
• Greek: εκ των προτέρων (el) (ek ton protéron)

• Hebrew: אפריורי‎ (apriori)
• Hindi: पूर्वसिद्ध (pūrvasiddh)
• Italian: a priori (it)
• Japanese: アプリオリ (ja) (apuriori)
• Korean: please add this translation if you can
• Polish: z góry (pl)
• Portuguese: a priori (pt)
• Romanian: a priori (ro)
• Russian: априо́ри (ru) (aprióri), зара́нее (ru) (zaráneje), незави́симо от о́пыта (nezavísimo ot ópyta), до о́пыта (do ópyta)
• Spanish: a priori (es)
• Turkish: önsel (tr)

See also

• ex ante

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French

Alternative forms

• à priori
• apriori

Etymology

From Latin a priori (literally “from the former”).

Adjective

a priori (invariable)

1. intuitively known, a priori

Adverb

a priori

1. (informal) at first glance

Noun

a priori m (plural a prioris)

1. a preconceived idea

Antonyms

• a posteriori

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German

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Etymology

From Latin a priori (literally “from the former”).

Adjective

a priori (not comparable)

1. a priori

Declension

Declension of a priori

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter	all genders
predicative		er ist a priori	sie ist a priori	es ist a priori	sie sind a priori
strong declension (without article)	nominative	—	—	—	—
	genitive	—	—	—	—
	dative	—	—	—	—
	accusative	—	—	—	—
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	—	—	—	—
	genitive	—	—	—	—
	dative	—	—	—	—
	accusative	—	—	—	—
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	—	—	—	—
	genitive	—	—	—	—
	dative	—	—	—	—
	accusative	—	—	—	—

Adverb

a priori

1. a priori

Further reading

• a priori on the German Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^de

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Italian

Etymology

From Latin a priori (literally “from the former”).

Adjective

a priori (invariable)

1. a priori

Adverb

a priori

1. a priori

Antonyms

• a posteriori

Derived terms

• apriorismo
• apriorista

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Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

First attested in 1610, from Latin a priori (literally “from the former”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aprioːri/

Adverb

a priori

1. (logic) a priori; based on hypothesis rather than experiment.

   viten a priori

   a priori knowledge

2. self-evident, intuitively obvious.
3. presumed without analysis.

   a priori kunne man vente at...

   a priori one could expect that...

Related terms

• a posteriori

References

• “a priori” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “a priori” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

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Portuguese

Etymology

From Latin a priori (literally “from the former”).

Adverb

a priori (comparative mais a priori superlative o mais a priori)

1. (logic) a priori (derived by logic)

Derived terms

• apriorismo

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Spanish

Etymology

From Latin a priori (literally “from the former”).

Adverb

a priori

1. beforehand
2. (logic, philosophy) a priori

Derived terms

• apriorismo
• apriorístico