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 ]