You searched for: “prior
prier, pryer; prior, prior
prier, pryer (PRIGH uhr) (noun)
Someone who is overly interested in the affairs of other people: Cara was always known as a prier concerning what her son was doing when he was away from home.
prior (PRIGH uhr) (adjective)
1. Referring to something which existed earlier, or preceded in time or order: Jason had a prior history of back problems.

James can't join his friends for dinner on Friday because they have a prior engagement with another family.

2. More important than something else because it came first: Arthur has a prior claim to the property.
3. Pertaining to a previous time of being arrested for or found guilty of a crime: The suspect had a prior conviction as a robber.
prior (PRIGH uhr) (noun)
A monk who is the head of a religious house or order: Jonathan went to visit the prior of the local monastery.

Prior to his being transferred, the prior at the local abbey was notorious for being a prier into the affairs of the people in the village.

prior (s) (noun), priors (pl)
1. Earlier in time or sequence: When Jasper invited Mary to his birthday party, she responded by saying, "Sorry, I would love to go, but I have a prior engagement."
2. More important or basic.
3. Before someone or something in time:Prior to her going to New York, she was in Berlin, Germany.
4. An officer in a monastery of a rank below an abbot.
5. A man who is superior in some religious communities.
6. A senior magistrate in some medieval Italian republics; especially, in Florence.
7. Etymology: from Medieval Latin prior, "superior officer or official".
This entry is located in the following unit: prior- (page 1)
prior (adjective), more prior, most prior
1. In legal use, something else may take precedence or be ranked as more important: Samuel was told that there is a prior claim to the estate that he wanted to buy.

Marilyn was told that if her prior marriage was legally dissolved, then her second one is legal.

2. Etymology: from Latin prior, "former, previous, first"; figuratively, "superior, better".
This entry is located in the following unit: prior- (page 1)
More possibly related word entries
A unit related to: “prior
(Latin: before, in front of; fore, prior, preceding; used as a prefix)
(Latin: before, in front of, prior to, forward; used as a prefix)
(Latin: former; first; superior)
Word Entries containing the term: “prior
prior appropriation
This entry is located in the following unit: proprio-, propri- (page 2)
prior planning
This entry is located in the following unit: Pleonasms or Tautological Redundancies (page 18)