Where does “Prior” come from?
Prior comes from Middle English prior, derived from Middle English prior, with the ultimate origin and meaning obscured by insufficient historical documentation.
Prior (English): for someone employed by a prior
Definitions
- for someone employed by a prior
Ancestry of “Prior”, step by step
Prior traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Latin prior
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Latin | prior | former, prior, previous; the first, the original;... |
| 2 | Proto-Italic | priōs | former |
| 3 | Proto-Italic | prijōs | — |
| 4 | Proto-Italic | -jōs | Forms comparative adjectives |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | -yós | Creates adjectives from noun or verb stems |
via Middle English prior
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | prior | — |