Previous vs. Prior

Previousadjective

(not comparable) Prior; occurring before something else, either in time or order.

Previousadjective

(informal) Premature; acting or occurring too soon.

Previousnoun

An existing criminal record (short for "previous convictions")

Previousnoun

a track record of similar behaviour.

Previousadjective

Going before in time; being or happening before something else; antecedent; prior; as, previous arrangements; a previous illness.

Previousadjective

(used especially of persons) of the immediate past;

Previousadjective

too soon or too hasty;

Previousadjective

just preceding something else in time or order;

Prioradjective

Advance; previous; coming before.

Prioradjective

Former, previous.

Prioradverb

(colloquial) Previously.

Priornoun

A high-ranking member of a monastery, usually lower in rank than an abbot.

Priornoun

(historical) A chief magistrate in Italy.

Priornoun

A previous arrest or criminal conviction on someone's record.

Priornoun

(statistics) In Bayesian inference, a prior probability distribution, one based on information or belief before additional data is collected.

Prioradjective

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.

Prioradjective

First, precedent, or superior in the order of cognition, reason or generality, origin, development, rank, etc.

Priornoun

The superior of a priory, and next below an abbot in dignity.

Priornoun

a chief magistrate, as in the republic of Florence in the middle ages.

Priornoun

a prior conviction; - said of an accused criminal.

Priornoun

the head of a religious order; in an abbey the prior is next below the abbot

Prioradjective

earlier in time

Prior

Prior (or prioress) is an ecclesiastical title for a superior, usually lower in rank than an abbot or abbess. Its earlier generic usage referred to any monastic superior.