prior

adj

1. (not-comparable)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.”

   “Since therefore 'tis poſſible for all objects to become cauſes or effects to each other, it may be proper to fix ſome general rules, by vvhich vve may knovv vvhen they really are ſo. […] 2. The cauſe must be prior to the effect.”

   “Lady Marney, duly warned of the impending catastrophe, was experiencing all the advantages of prior information.”

   “"As these busts in the block of marble," though Miriam, "so does our individual fate exist in the limestone of time. We fancy that we carve it out; but its ultimate shape is prior to all our action."”

2. (not-comparable)More important or significant.
3. (not-comparable)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.

adv

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 its beginning, suggesting (at least for now) that the wheel continues to turn, sending us back into a pattern begun seven seasons prior.”

noun

1. 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.
2. (broadly)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.

   “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.”

   “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.”

3. (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.”

4. A high-ranking member of a religious house or religious order.

   “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: […]”

5. A high-ranking member of a religious house or religious order.
6. A high-ranking member of a religious house or religious order.
7. A high-ranking member of a religious house or religious order.
8. A high-ranking member of a religious house or religious order.

   “[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 and York; and is executed by the prior, dean and chapter of the said churches; […]”

9. (historical)A chief magistrate of the Republic of Florence (1115–1569) in what is now Italy.
10. (historical)The elected head of a guild of craftsmen or merchants in some countries in Europe and South America.
11. (obsolete)A person who is the earliest or most prominent in a field; the chief.
12. (obsolete)The head of a company.

name

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