You use prior to indicate that something has already happened, or must happen, before another event takes place.
He claimed he had no prior knowledge of the protest.
The Constitution requires the president to seek the prior approval of Congress formilitary action.
For the prior year, they reported net income of $1.1 million.
Synonyms: earlier, previous, former, preceding More Synonyms of prior
2. adjective [ADJECTIVE noun]
A prior claim or duty is more important than other claims or duties and needs to be dealt with first.
The firm I wanted to use had prior commitments.
3. countable noun & title noun
A prior is a monk who is in charge of a priory or a monk who is the second most important person in a monastery.
4.
See prior to sth
English Easy Learning GrammarPrepositionsA preposition is one of a small but very common group of words that relate differentitems to each other. Most English prepositions have a number of meanings ... Read more
prior in British English1
(ˈpraɪə)
adjective
1. (prenominal)
previous; preceding
2. prior to
noun
3. statistics
a prior probability
Word origin
C18: from Latin: previous
prior in British English2
(ˈpraɪə)
noun
1.
the superior of a house and community in certain religious orders
2.
the deputy head of a monastery or abbey, ranking immediately below the abbot
3.
(formerly) a chief magistrate in medieval Florence and other Italian republics
Word origin
C11: from Late Latin: head, from Latin (adj): previous, from Old Latin pri before
Prior in British English
(ˈpraɪə)
noun
Matthew. 1664–1721, English poet and diplomat, noted for his epigrammatic occasional verse
Prior in American English
(ˈpraɪər)
Matthew1664-1721; Eng. poet
prior in American English
(ˈpraɪər)
adjective
1.
preceding in time; earlier; previous; former
2.
preceding in order or importance; preferred
a prior choice
noun
3.
the head of a priory or other religious house
4.
in an abbey, the person in charge next below the abbot
SIMILAR WORDS: ˈprevious
Idioms:
prior to
Word origin
L, former, superior, compar. of OL pri, before: see prime
Examples of 'prior' in a sentence
prior
Your head office will have received prior notice of this coupon.
The Sun (2016)
And it was only that joyous because of the hell we'd experienced prior to it.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
But we didn't know until two days prior.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Despite that, 77 per cent of businesses said that prior work experience has an impact on employability.
Computing (2010)
The firm compared the average house price for the three months prior to a store's opening, to the three months after.
The Sun (2016)
Prior subsidence claims can make insurance difficult to get.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
This offer may be withdrawn without prior notice.
The Sun (2008)
Your own prior knowledge of the animal that you will be taking on.
Standen, Chris Superdog! Action plans that work for a happy and well-behaved pet (1990)
They had no prior experience of people who disagreed.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
So should you demand prior warning of who your fellow victims will be?
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
This procedure should be put in place prior to the next election.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
There were to be no new classes without his prior approval.
Christianity Today (2000)
This means experimenting and testing without prior knowledge of the result.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
These navigational skills seem to require no prior life experience.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
Care home inspections should be allowed without prior warning at any time.
The Sun (2012)
Police were suspicious but found no evidence to suggest that she had prior knowledge of the attacks.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
The teams may seek prior outline approval for a design but it still must pass all the eligibility tests.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
The claimants had been given no prior notice of the application or of the grounds on which it had been made.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
He missed a meeting of the council last month, citing prior engagements.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
It claims that prior to completing the purchase their phone line will be tested to ensure they are placed on the correct package.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
No plant will close until 2014 because of a prior agreement.
The Sun (2012)
We reserve the right to withdraw, alter or decline this offer without prior notice.
The Sun (2009)
I don't think anybody could have expected that prior to the first game of the season.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
Should I claim a prior engagement or go?
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
But I've always taken the view we have to answer this prior question first.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
I hope they've spoken to 51 per cent of shareholders and got their prior agreement.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
In other languages
prior
British English: prior ADJECTIVE
You use prior to indicate that something has already happened, or must happen, before another event takes place.
He claimed he had no prior knowledge of the protest.
American English: prior
Brazilian Portuguese: anterior
Chinese: 事先的
European Spanish: previo
French: antérieur
German: vorherig
Italian: precedente
Japanese: 前もっての
Korean: 사전의
European Portuguese: anterior
Latin American Spanish: previo
All related terms of 'prior'
prior to
before; until
prior notice
If you give notice about something that is going to happen , you give a warning in advance that it is going to happen.
prior warning
A warning is an advance notice of something that will happen , often something unpleasant or dangerous .
prior knowledge
Knowledge is information and understanding about a subject which a person has, or which all people have.
prior restraint
a court order banning publication of unpublished material
prior to sth
If something happens prior to a particular time or event , it happens before that time or event.
prior arrangement
An arrangement is an agreement that you make with someone to do something.
prior commitment
A commitment is something which regularly takes up some of your time because of an agreement you have made or because of responsibilities that you have.
prior probability
the probability assigned to a parameter or to an event in advance of any empirical evidence , often subjectively or on the assumption of the principle of indifference