a priori
[a pʁiˈoːʁi]
The verdict
“a priori” is uncommon German (outside the top frequency list), classed as a phrase. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency German
- 8
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - grundsätzlich, im Vorhinein, von vornherein/von vorneherein
Corpus desk
Index DE-a-priori · a priori · German
a priori · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "A" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | a priori |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Phrase |
| IPA | [a pʁiˈoːʁi] |
| Letters | 8 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Langschwanz-Rang von „a priori“ im Deutschen
Rare enough to double-check
a priori is uncommon German outside the top frequency list, classed as aphrase, transcribed [a pʁiˈoːʁi]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
No generated misspelling entries exist for a priori in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular German conventions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct German form is a priori, spelled A- -P-R-I-O-R-I.
Definition
- 1grundsätzlich, im Vorhinein, von vornherein/von vorneherein
- 2unabhängig von jeder Erfahrung und Wahrnehmung; rein mit der Vernunft durch logisches Denken erschließbar
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how a priori appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Ein Sozialstaat ist nicht a priori eine »soziale Hängematte«.
»[…] Für mich waren die Nazis nicht a priori meine ersten Feinde. Das waren die Austrofaschisten, nicht die Nazis.«
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.