Which to use
“prior” and “priori” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #43,083
- “prior” frequency rank
- #5,390
- “priori” frequency rank
- 48473
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | prior | priori |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Antérieur, préalable. | Datif singulier de prior. |
Letter map: prior vs priori
Shared letters muted; letters that set prior and priori apart highlighted. Shared run: 5. prior runs 5 letters (CCVVC) against priori's 6 (CCVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Corpus notes: prior and priori
prior and priori are indexed as a confusable French pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “prior” sits inside “priori”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48473, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
prior is recorded at frequency rank #43,083, classified as anadj, pronounced \ˈpɹaɪ.ə\. priori is at rank #5,390, tagged as anadj.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 48473, this pair ranks #178,616 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of prior vs priori
Shared letters: iopr. Private to "prior": -. Private to "priori": -.
"prior" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC · "priori" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "prior" for "priori" ever safe?
Which is more common, "prior" or "priori"?
What to do next
You've compared "prior" and "priori". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "prior" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "priori" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #178,616 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "prior" and "priori" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "priée vs prior". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #178,616 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.