‖ [ L. a (ab) + prior former. ] 1. (Logic) Characterizing that kind of reasoning which deduces consequences from definitions formed, or principles assumed, or which infers effects from causes previously known; deductive or deductively. The reverse of a posteriori. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Philos.) Applied to knowledge and conceptions assumed, or presupposed, as prior to experience, in order to make experience rational or possible. [ 1913 Webster ]

A priori, that is, from these necessities of the mind or forms of thinking, which, though first revealed to us by experience, must yet have preëxisted in order to make experience possible. Coleridge. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. apriorisme. ] An a priori principle. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being innate in the mind, or prior to experience; a priori reasoning. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. prior former, previous, better, superior; compar. corresponding to primus first, and pro for. See Former, and cf. Prime, a., and Pre-, Pro-. ] 1. Preceding in the order of time; former; antecedent; anterior; previous; as, a prior discovery; prior obligation; -- used elliptically in cases like the following: he lived alone [ in the time ] prior to his marriage. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. First, precedent, or superior in the order of cognition, reason or generality, origin, development, rank, etc. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ OE. priour, OF. priour, prior, priur, F. prieur, from L. prior former, superior. See Prior, a. ] 1. (Eccl.) The superior of a priory, and next below an abbot in dignity. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. a chief magistrate, as in the republic of Florence in the middle ages. [ RHUD ] [ PJC ]

Conventical prior, or
Conventual prior, a prior who is at the head of his own house. See the Note under Priory. --
Claustral prior, an official next in rank to the abbot in a monastery; prior of the cloisters. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a prior conviction; -- said of an accused criminal. [ informal ] [ PJC ]

n. [ LL. prioratus: cf. F. priorat. ] The dignity, office, or government, of a prior. T. Warton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OF. prioresse. ] A lady superior of a priory of nuns, and next in dignity to an abbess. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To order or rank (a list of tasks) according to priority; to assign a priorities to. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ Cf. F. priorité. See Prior, a. ] 1. The quality or state of being prior or antecedent in time, or of preceding something else; as, priority of application. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Precedence; superior rank. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Priority of debts, a superior claim to payment, or a claim to payment before others. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Antecedence; precedence; preëminence. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. Previously. [ R. ] Geddes. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state or office of prior; priorate. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Priories [ Cf. LL. prioria. See Prior, n. ] A religious house presided over by a prior or prioress; -- sometimes an offshoot of, an subordinate to, an abbey, and called also cell, and obedience. See Cell, 2. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Of such houses there were two sorts: one where the prior was chosen by the inmates, and governed as independently as an abbot in an abbey; the other where the priory was subordinate to an abbey, and the prior was placed or displaced at the will of the abbot. [ 1913 Webster ]

Alien priory, a small religious house dependent on a large monastery in some other country. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- See Cloister. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Pref. sub + prior: cf. F. sous-prieur. ] (Eccl.) The vicegerent of a prior; a claustral officer who assists the prior. [ 1913 Webster ]