Preparatory vs Prior - What's the difference?
preparatory | prior | Related terms |
of or pertaining to preparation, having the purpose of making something or someone ready, preparative
Of that which comes before, in advance.
former, previous
A high-ranking member of a monastery, usually lower in rank than an abbot.
* 1939 , (Raymond Chandler), The Big Sleep , Penguin 2011, p. 53:
(statistics) In Bayesian inference, a prior probability distribution.
As adjectives the difference between preparatory and prior
is that preparatory is of or pertaining to preparation, having the purpose of making something or someone ready, preparative while prior is of that which comes before, in advance.As an adverb prior is
previously.As a noun prior is
a high-ranking member of a monastery, usually lower in rank than an abbot.preparatory
English
Adjective
(-)- I will conduct some preparatory research before choosing the new restaurant's location.
Derived terms
*preparatory school *preparatorilyprior
English
Adjective
(-)- I had no prior knowledge you were coming.
- His prior residence was smaller than his current one.
Usage notes
The etymological antonym is (m) (from Latin) (compare (m)/(m) for “first/last”). This is now no longer used, however, and there is no corresponding antonym. Typically either (m) or (m) are used, but these form different pairs – (m)/(m) and (m)/(m) – and are more formal than prior . When an opposing pair is needed, these can be used, or other pairs such as (m)/(m) or (m)/(m).Synonyms
* See alsoDerived terms
* prior toNoun
(wikipedia prior) (en noun)- ‘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.’