# prior

Pronunciation: US say "PRY-ur" /ˈpɹaɪ.(ə)ɹ/; UK say "PRY-uh" /ˈpɹaɪ.ə/

## Adverb

1. Beforehand or in advance; chiefly used followed by "to" to mean before a stated time or event.
   - Simple: Before something happens, mostly used in the phrase "prior to."
   - _The samples must be refrigerated prior to testing._
   - _She had reviewed the report prior to the meeting._

## Adjective

2. Coming before something else in order or time; earlier, former, or previous.
   - Simple: Happening or existing before something else, in time or order.
   - _The contract canceled all prior agreements between the two firms._
   - _Without any prior warning, the factory shut its doors._
6. Of a probability: assigned before the evidence now being considered is taken into account, though it may draw on earlier data or background knowledge.
   - Simple: Describing a probability worked out before you look at the new facts or data.
   - _The model began with a prior probability based on past seasons._
   - _Using Bayes' rule, she combined the prior probability with the new test results._
8. More important or significant than other things; having precedence over them.
   - Simple: More important than something else, so that it comes first.
   - _The bank's loan had a prior claim on the money from the sale of the house._
   - _Family duties had a prior claim on his weekends, so the fishing trip had to wait._

## Noun

3. An earlier arrest or criminal conviction recorded on someone's criminal record. *(Canada, US)*
   - Simple: An earlier arrest or conviction already written on a person's police record.
   - _Defense attorneys argued the prior should not affect his bail._
   - _Her record showed no priors, which helped at sentencing._
4. A man who heads a priory, a house of friars, or certain religious orders, or the monk next below the abbot in an abbey; also an honorary title in some military religious orders.
   - Simple: A monk or friar who leads a religious house, or who is second in charge under an abbot.
   - _The prior administered the daily affairs of the priory._
   - _The twelve monks of the small hillside monastery elected a new prior last spring._
5. In Bayesian statistics, a probability distribution expressing what is believed about a quantity before the evidence now being considered is taken into account.
   - Simple: In statistics, a first guess about how likely things are, made before new data comes in.
   - _The analyst updated the prior as new measurements arrived._
   - _Choosing an informative prior shaped the model's conclusions._
7. A belief or assumption, based on past evidence or experience, that someone brings to a question and may revise when new evidence arrives.
   - Simple: A belief you already hold from past experience, which you may change when you learn something new.
   - _He admitted his prior about the market was based on a single bad year._
   - _Strong evidence forced her to revise a long-held prior._

## Noun

9. (obsolete) A leader or chief, such as the head of a company or the foremost figure in a field of activity. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Old use: the leader or most important person in a group, company, or field.

## Other meanings

- (noun) In certain cathedrals, an honorary title bestowed on one of the priests.
- (noun) One of the chief magistrates of the Republic of Florence, chosen from the guilds, who governed from the late thirteenth century until 1532.
- (noun) In some European and South American countries, the head of a craft or merchant guild, chosen by its members.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–3, 5–8** — Latin prior meant "earlier, former, previous," "in front," and "better, superior," and English took the adjective from it as a learned borrowing. The Latin word came from Proto-Italic *priōs, which meant "earlier, previous" and literally "more before." That form goes back to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "before" or "in front." Before, fore and former are doublets, and the adverb and noun were formed from the adjective.
**Meanings 4, 9** — Latin prior ("ancestor, predecessor") was a noun use of the adjective prior ("former, previous"), and in Late Latin it came to mean the superior or deputy of a religious house or order. The word came into English through Old English prior, through Anglo-Norman and Old French forms, and also directly from Latin. Middle English priour or prior meant the head or deputy head of a monastery, a predecessor, or a superior.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/prior (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).