prior
English edit
Alternative forms edit
Pronunciation edit
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈpɹaɪ.ə/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈpɹaɪ.ɚ/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -aɪə(ɹ)
Etymology 1 edit
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 edit
prior (not comparable)
- Advance; previous; coming before.
- I had no prior knowledge you were coming.
- Former, previous.
- His prior residence was smaller than his current one.
Usage notes edit
- The etymological antonym is ulterior (from Latin; compare primate/ultimate for “first/last”). This is now no longer used, however, and there is no corresponding antonym. Typically either subsequent or posterior is used, but these form different pairs – precedent/subsequent and anterior/posterior – and are more formal than prior. When an opposing pair is needed, these can be used, or other pairs such as former/latter or previous/next.
Synonyms edit
- anterior
- See also Thesaurus:former
Antonyms edit
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
Translations edit
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Adverb edit
prior (comparative more prior, superlative most prior)
- (colloquial) Previously.
- 2019 April 14, Alex McLevy, “Winter is Here on Game of Thrones’ Final Season Premiere (Newbies)”, in The A.V. Club[1], 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 edit
Noun edit
prior (plural priors)
- (US, law enforcement) A previous arrest or criminal conviction on someone's record. [from 19th c.]
- 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.’
- (statistics, Bayesian inference) A prior probability distribution, one based on information or belief before additional data is collected. [from 20th c.]
- Coordinate term: posterior
- (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[2]:
- 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[3]:
- 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[4]:
- Mostly because the evidence confirms all my priors.
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
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Etymology 2 edit
From Middle English priour, prior, from Old English prior, Old French prior, and their etymon Latin prior.
Noun edit
prior (plural priors)
- A high-ranking member of a monastery, usually lower in rank than an abbot.
- (historical) A chief magistrate in Italy.
Synonyms edit
- (second-in-command to an abbot): provost
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
Translations edit
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References edit
- “prior”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
Catalan edit
Etymology edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
prior m (plural priors, feminine priora)
- prior (a high-ranking member of a monastery)
Related terms edit
Further reading edit
- “prior” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
- “prior”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
- “prior” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
- “prior” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
Latin edit
Etymology edit
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 edit
- (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈpri.or/, [ˈpriɔr]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈpri.or/, [ˈpriːor]
Adjective edit
prior (neuter prius, superlative prīmus); third-declension comparative adjective
- 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.
- 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 first, the original
- in front
- (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.)
- “Likewise, because of you, my sense of honor is gone, and a better reputation which was my only way to the stars.”
- “[...] tē propter eundem / exstīnctus pudor et, quā sōlā sīdera adībam, / fāma prior. [...]”
- (substantive, Medieval Latin) abbot, prior
Usage notes edit
- 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 edit
The template Template:rfc does not use the parameter(s):lacks abl.sg. in -i, cp. [[a priori]] and e.g. [https://archive.org/details/allengreenoughsn00alleiala/page/52/mode/2up Allen & Greenough] & [https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=priori etymonline.com]Please see Module:checkparams for help with this warning.
- Third-declension comparative adjective.
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 edit
Related terms edit
Descendants edit
- → Catalan: prior
- → Czech: převor
- → Dutch: prior
- → English: prior
- → Finnish: priori
- → French: prieur
- → Irish: prióir
- → Galician: prior
- → Italian: priore
- → Middle High German: prior
- German: Prior
- → Norwegian Bokmål: priori
- → Polish: przeor
- → Romanian: prior
- → Russian: приор (prior)
- → Spanish: prior
- → Portuguese: prior
References edit
- “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[5], 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)
- last year: superiore, priore anno
Spanish edit
Etymology edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
prior m (plural priores, feminine priora, feminine plural prioras)
- prior (a high-ranking member of a monastery)
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
Further reading edit
- “prior”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014