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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Prior \Pri"or\, noun a prior conviction; -- said of an accused criminal. [informal] [PJC]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Prior \Pri"or\, adjective [L. prior former, previous, better, superior; compar. corresponding to primus first, and pro for. See {Former}, and cf. {Prime}, adjective, and {Pre-}, {Pro-}.]
1. 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.
2. First, precedent, or superior in the order of cognition, reason or generality, origin, development, rank, etc. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Prior \Pri"or\, noun [OE. priour, OF. priour, prior, priur, F. prieur, from L. prior former, superior. See {Prior}, adjective]
1. (Eccl.) The superior of a priory, and next below an abbot in dignity.
2. a chief magistrate, as in the republic of Florence in the middle ages. --[RHUD] [PJC]
{Conventical prior}, or {Conventual prior}, a prior who is at the head of his own house. See the Note under {Priory}.
{Claustral prior}, an official next in rank to the abbot in a monastery; prior of the cloisters.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
prior
adjective: earlier in time [syn: {anterior}, {prior(a)}]
noun: the head of a religious order; in an abbey the prior is next below the abbot
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
64 Moby Thesaurus words for "prior": ahead, ancient, antecedent, anterior, anticipatory, before, chief, ci-devant, earlier, early, elder, erstwhile, ex, exordial, first, fore, foregoing, foremost, former, forward, heading, headmost, immemorial, inaugural, initiatory, last, late, latest, leading, old, olden, older, once, onetime, past, precedent, preceding, precessional, precurrent, precursory, preexistent, prefatory, prehistoric, preliminary, preludial, prelusive, preparatory, prevenient, previous, previous to, prime, primeval, primitive, prior to, proemial, propaedeutic, quondam, recent, senior, sometime, then, till, until, whilom
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