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prior

pri·or/ˈpɹaɪ.(ə)ɹ/adjective, adverb, noun

prior is spelled P-R-I-O-R: 5 letters and 2 syllables (pri·or). It appears 71 times per million words in written English, the 1,486th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, prior means “Coming before in order or time; earlier, former, previous” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in prior?

Letters5: P-R-I-O-R
Syllables2: pri·or
In writing71 times per million words; the 1,486th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is prior?

Prior appears 71 times per million words in written English, the 1,486th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce prior?

  • UK /ˈpɹaɪ.ə/
  • US /ˈpɹaɪ.(ə)ɹ/
  • Australia /ˈpɹɑe.ə/

Prior has 2 syllables, split pri·or in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-prior.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with prior?

11 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as prior from its last stressed vowel (/aɪɹ/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of prior

  • more prior comparative
  • most prior superlative
  • priors plural
  • priour

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does prior mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    Coming before in order or time; earlier, former, previous.

    His prior residence was smaller than his current one.

  2. 2

    More important or significant.

  3. 3

    Chiefly in prior probability: of the probability of an event: determined without knowledge of the occurrence of other events that bear on it, before additional data is collected.

adverb

  1. 1

    Chiefly followed by to: in advance, before, previously.

    The doctor had known three months prior.

noun

  1. 1

    A prior probability distribution, that is, one determined without knowledge of the occurrence of other events that bear on it, before additional data is collected.

  2. 2

    In the rationalsphere: a belief supported by previous evidence or experience that one can use to make inferences about the future.

  3. 3

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

  4. 4

    In an abbey, the person ranking just after the abbot, appointed as his deputy; a prior claustral.

  5. 5

    The head of a priory (“a monastery which is usually a branch of an abbey”), or some other minor or smaller monastery; a prior conventual.

  6. 6

    The head friar of a house of friars.

  7. 7

    The head of the Arrouaisian, Augustinian, and formerly Premonstratensian religious orders.

  8. 8

    An honorary position held by a priest in some cathedrals.

  9. 9

    A chief magistrate of the Republic of Florence (1115–1569) in what is now Italy.

  10. 10

    The elected head of a guild of craftsmen or merchants in some countries in Europe and South America.

  11. 11

    obsoleteA person who is the earliest or most prominent in a field; the chief.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Prior in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchpréalable (coming before in importance, order, or time –…), a priori (of the probability of an event: determined…), antécédents, casier (judiciaire) (previous arrest or criminal conviction on…), prieur (in an abbey, the person ranking just after the…), prieure (head of a priory, or some other minor or…)
Germanvorausgehend, früher, vorherig (coming before in importance, order, or time –…), a priori (of the probability of an event: determined…), Vorstrafe (previous arrest or criminal conviction on…), Prior (in an abbey, the person ranking just after the…)
Portugueseprévio (coming before in importance, order, or time –…), a priori (of the probability of an event: determined…), prior (in an abbey, the person ranking just after the…), priora, prioresa (head of a priory, or some other minor or…)
Spanishantecedentes (previous arrest or criminal conviction on…), prior (in an abbey, the person ranking just after the…), priora (head of a priory, or some other minor or…)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does prior come from?

The adjective is a learned borrowing from Latin prior (“earlier, former, previous, prior; in front; (figurative) better, superior”), from Proto-Italic *priōs (“earlier, previous”, literally “more before”), ultimately from *pri (“before”) (from Proto-Indo-European *pró (“leading to, toward”) and its etymon *per- (“before, in front; first”)) + *-jōs (suffix forming comparative adjectives). Doublet of before, fore, and former. The adverb and noun are derived from the adjective.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after prior