Etymology : Middle English, from Old English and Old French; both from Medieval Latin, from Late Latin, administrator, from Latin, former, superior
Pronunciation : 'prI(-&)r
Function : noun
Date : before 12th century
1. officer of a monastery, high-ranking member of a religious order. previous, earlier, preceding, antecedent, former. prioryou can click anywhere, but just don't click here.prior \pri"or\ , a. first, precedent, or superior in the order of cognition, reason or generality, origin, development, rank, etc.prior \pri"or\ , a. [l. prior former, previous, better, superior; compar. corresponding to primus first, and pro for. see:
former, and cf. prime, a., and pre-, pro-.] preceding in the order of time; former; antecedent; anterior; previous; as, a prior discovery; prior obligation; -- used elliptically in cases like the following: he lived alone [in the time] prior to his marriage.prior \pri"or\, n. [oe. priour, of. priour, prior, priur, f. prieur, from l. prior former, superior. see:
prior, a.] (eccl.) the superior of a priory, and next below an abbot in dignity.
2. Preceding in the order of time; former; antecedent; anterior; previous; as, a prior discovery; prior obligation; used elliptically in cases like the following: he lived alone [in the time] prior to his marriage.
3. The superior of a priory, and next below an abbot in dignity.
4. First, precedent, or superior in the order of cognition, reason or generality, origin, development, rank, etc. the head of a religious order; in an abbey the prior is next below the abbot Printed letters; the impression taken from type, as to excellence, form, size, etc.; as, small print; large print; this line is in print.
5. That which is produced by printing.
6. An impression taken from anything, as from an engraved plate.
7. A printed publication, more especially a newspaper or other periodical.
8. A printed cloth; a fabric figured by stamping, especially calico or cotton cloth.
9. A photographic copy, or positive picture, on prepared paper, as from a negative, or from a drawing on transparent paper.
10. 1. 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 for military action.
11. 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.
12. 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.
13. If something happens prior to a particular time or event, it happens before that time or event. Prior to his Japan trip, he went to New York.