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Prior vs Between - What's the difference?

prior | between |

As nouns the difference between prior and between

is that prior is a high-ranking member of a monastery, usually lower in rank than an abbot while between is a kind of needle, shorter than a sharp, with a small rounded eye, used for making fine stitches on heavy fabrics.

As an adjective prior

is of that which comes before, in advance.

As an adverb prior

is previously.

As a preposition between is

in the position or interval that separates (two things), or intermediate in quantity or degree. (See the Usage notes below..

prior

English

Adjective

(-)
  • Of that which comes before, in advance.
  • I had no prior knowledge you were coming.
  • former, previous
  • 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 also

    Derived terms

    * prior to

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • (colloquial) Previously.
  • The doctor had known three months prior .

    Noun

    (wikipedia prior) (en noun)
  • A high-ranking member of a monastery, usually lower in rank than an abbot.
  • * 1939 , (Raymond Chandler), The Big Sleep , Penguin 2011, p. 53:
  • ‘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.’
  • (statistics) In Bayesian inference, a prior probability distribution.
  • between

    English

    Alternative forms

    * betweene (archaic) * betwene (archaic) * (abbreviation)

    Preposition

    (English prepositions)
  • In the position or interval that separates (two things), or intermediate in quantity or degree. (See the Usage notes below.)
  • :
  • :
  • *
  • *:Thus, when he drew up instructions in lawyer language, he expressed the important words by an initial, a medial, or a final consonant, and made scratches for all the words between ; his clerks, however, understood him very well.
  • *{{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author=(Henry Petroski)
  • , title= Geothermal Energy , volume=101, issue=4, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Energy has seldom been found where we need it when we want it. Ancient nomads, wishing to ward off the evening chill and enjoy a meal around a campfire, had to collect wood and then spend time and effort coaxing the heat of friction out from between sticks to kindle a flame.}}
  • Done together or reciprocally.
  • :
  • *{{quote-book, year=1935, author= George Goodchild
  • , title=Death on the Centre Court, chapter=1 , passage=She mixed furniture with the same fatal profligacy as she mixed drinks, and this outrageous contact between things which were intended by Nature to be kept poles apart gave her an inexpressible thrill.}}
  • Shared in confidence.
  • :
  • In transit from (one to the other, or connecting places).
  • :
  • Combined (by effort or ownership).
  • :
  • :
  • One of (representing a choice).
  • :
  • :
  • Usage notes

    * Some groups of non-native speakers confuse between'' and ''among''. It is sometimes said that ''between'' usually applies to two things, while ''among'' applies to more than two things. This is not correct; according to the Oxford English Dictionary (quoted at http://eebweb.arizona.edu/faculty/chesson/between_and_among.htm) "In all senses, ''between'' has been, from its earliest appearance, extended to more than two. In OE. and ME. it was so extended in sense 1, in which ''among'' is now considered better. It is still the only word available to express the relation of a thing to many surrounding things severally and individually, ''among expressing a relation to them collectively and vaguely: we should not say ‘the space lying among the three points,’ or ‘a treaty among three powers,’ or ‘the choice lies among the three candidates in the select list,’ or ‘to insert a needle among the closed petals of a flower".

    Synonyms

    * atween (archaic) * atwix

    Derived terms

    * (between)

    See also

    * betwixt * among

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A kind of needle, shorter than a sharp, with a small rounded eye, used for making fine stitches on heavy fabrics.
  • Statistics

    *