在時間上較早：先前的、事先的
直接落在核心「排在前面」上：把「在前」用在時間軸上，就是「比現在這件事更早發生或更早安排好」。
happening before · adjective · C1
Happening or arranged before something else, or before the time you are talking about.
事先的 / 先前的
核心畫面
The idea of coming first — earlier in time, or higher in standing. Whatever is 'prior' got there before the rest, so it sits ahead of them.
可以想成「排在前面」這個核心感覺：在時間上比較早，或在地位、順位上比較高。凡是 prior 的東西，都是先到、先有、…更多收起
可以想成「排在前面」這個核心感覺：在時間上比較早，或在地位、順位上比較高。凡是 prior 的東西，都是先到、先有、排在別人前頭的那一個——形容詞的「先前的」和名詞的「修道院院長」其實都是從這個「居先、居上」的意思長出來的。From the word’s history
From Latin 'prior' meaning 'former, earlier, superior' — the comparative of an older root for 'before / in front'. Both the adjective (earlier) and the monastic noun (the superior monk) grow from this one idea of 'the one ahead'.
源自拉丁文 prior，意為「較早的、在前的、居上的」，是表「在前」的詞的比較級。形容詞（較早的）和名詞（地位較高的那位修士）都是從這個「走在前面的人／事」的意思衍生出來。
Oxford English Dictionary / etymonline (Latin prior 'former, superior')
Four branches
在順位上較高：優先的
同樣是「排在前面」，但這次排的不是時間而是順位：誰的權利先成立、先被承認，就排在別人前面、比較重要。
prior claim · adjective · C1
In the phrase 'prior claim', describing a right to something that counts as more important than someone else's right to the same thing.
優先的(權利)
修道院裡居上的人：院長、副院長
把「居上、走在前頭的那一位」放進修道院：地位排在前面、領頭的修士，就被稱作 prior。所以這個名詞跟形容詞共用同一個「在前、居上」的核心。
head of a priory · noun · C1
The man in charge of a priory, which is a place where a group of monks live and pray.
小修道院院長
先前的犯罪紀錄：前科
這個名詞是直接把形容詞「先前的」名詞化：一筆「先前的」定罪紀錄，警察口語就乾脆叫它 a prior，回到時間上「在前」的那條線。
a prior conviction · noun · C1
An informal word, used mostly by police, for a time in the past when someone was found guilty of breaking the law.
前科
原始詞典資料18 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
Priorname
- 1
A surname originating as an occupation for someone employed by a prior.
- 2
An unincorporated community in Douglas County, Missouri, United States.
prioradj詞源 1/ˈpɹaɪ.ə/
- 1
Coming before in order or time; earlier, former, previous.
- His prior residence was smaller than his current one.
- I had no prior knowledge you were coming.
- 2
More important or significant.
- 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.
prioradv詞源 1/ˈpɹaɪ.ə/
- 1
Chiefly followed by to: in advance, before, previously.
- The doctor had known three months prior.
- From the opening shots of the anonymous young Winterfell boy rushing to catch a glimpse of Jon Snow and Queen Daenerys Targaryen, hearkening back to those moments of the very first episode in which Arya rushed to do the same with an approaching King Robert Baratheon, the series is calling back to its beginning, suggesting (at least for now) that the wheel continues to turn, sending us back into a pattern begun seven seasons prior.
priornoun詞源 1/ˈpɹaɪ.ə/
- 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
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.
- During each of these touchpoints, I'm asking myself where and how my thesis on each holding could be wrong. I'm checking each data point as it comes in against my priors. I'm comparing management behavior to what I would be doing if I were in their shoes.
- The votes are in, and our priors are confirmed. The truth is that midterms are nearly as predictable as death and taxes: The party that controls the White House always loses and often badly at that.
- 3
governmentlaw-enforcementA previous arrest or criminal conviction on someone's criminal record.
- And a little later we get the routine report on his prints from Washington, and he's got a prior back in Indiana, attempted hold-up six years ago.
priornoun詞源 2/ˈpɹaɪ.ə/
- 1
ChristianityA high-ranking member of a religious house or religious order.
- It is not yet an hundred yere a goe, ſince that ſame mayſter doctour was butler in the ſame houſe, whereof I was maiſter and praiour: […]
- 2
ChristianityA high-ranking member of a religious house or religious order.
- 3
ChristianityA high-ranking member of a religious house or religious order.
- 4
ChristianityA high-ranking member of a religious house or religious order.
- 5
ChristianityA high-ranking member of a religious house or religious order.
- [I]t hath appertained to the Archbishops of Canterbury and York for the space of four hundred years or thereabouts to have spiritual jurisdiction over all your Grace's subjects dwelling within the provinces; […] in the meantime of vacation the same privilege resteth in the churches of Canterbury and York; and is executed by the prior, dean and chapter of the said churches; […]
- 6
historicalA chief magistrate of the Republic of Florence (1115–1569) in what is now Italy.
- [F]irſt of all among themſelves of the ancienteſt they chuſe three heads or chiefs vvhich they call Priors; and alſo of the youngeſt among them they chuſe tvvo vvho perform the office of Secretaries. The Priors ſit dovvn, having before them a table upon vvhich are placed tvvo balloting boxes of that ſort that are uſed in the Great Council; in one of vvhich are put 40 balls, marked vvith a certain mark, that no deceit may be uſed. The reſt of the 41 ſit alſo dovvn, each vvhere he pleaſes. […] Then they are called one by one before the three Priors, and each one vvrites in his Schedule the name of him vvhom he vvould have to be Duke, and leaves it upon the table.
- 7
historicalThe elected head of a guild of craftsmen or merchants in some countries in Europe and South America.
- 8
obsoleteA person who is the earliest or most prominent in a field; the chief.
另外 1 個記錄的用法
- 9
obsoletebusinessThe head of a company.
資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。