a priori

See also: apriori

Contents

EnglishEdit

WOTD – 1 February 2012

Alternative formsEdit

• apriori

EtymologyEdit

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

AdjectiveEdit

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.

AntonymsEdit

• a posteriori

Derived termsEdit

Derived terms

• apriorism
• apriorist

• aprioristic
• apriority

Related termsEdit

• a fortiori

TranslationsEdit

(logic) based on hypothesis rather than experiment.

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 先驗 (zh) (xiān yàn)

• Finnish: apriorinen, hypoteettinen (fi)
• Greek: επαγωγικός (el) m (epagogikós), συμπερασματικός (el) m (symperasmatikós)

• Italian: a priori (it), teorico (it), preconcetto (it)
• Russian: априо́рный (ru) (apriórnyj), доо́пытный (doópytnyj), предположи́тельный (ru) (predpoložítelʹnyj)
• Tagalog: matwiranin

AdverbEdit

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

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

TranslationsEdit

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 (pūrvasid'dha)
• Italian: a priori (it)
• Japanese: アプリオリ (ja) (apuriori)
• 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 alsoEdit

• ex ante

ReferencesEdit

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FrenchEdit

Alternative formsEdit

• à priori

AdjectiveEdit

a priori (invariable)

1. intuitively known, a priori

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GermanEdit

PronunciationEdit

• Audio

  (file)

AdjectiveEdit

a priori (not comparable)

1. a priori

DeclensionEdit

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	—	—	—	—

AdverbEdit

a priori

1. a priori

Further readingEdit

• a priori on the German Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^de

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ItalianEdit

AdjectiveEdit

a priori (invariable)

1. a priori

AdverbEdit

a priori

1. a priori

AntonymsEdit

• a posteriori

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PortugueseEdit

AdverbEdit

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

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

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SpanishEdit

AdverbEdit

a priori

1. beforehand
2. (logic) a priori