Where does “prior” come from?

Prior comes from Latin prior, from Proto-Italic priōs, from Proto-Indo-European per- combined with the comparative suffix -yōs, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European per-.

prior (English): Advance; previous; coming before; Former,...

Definitions

  1. Advance; previous; coming before; Former,...

Ancestry of “prior”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Latinpriorformer, prior, previous; the first, the original;...
2Proto-Italicpriōsformer
3Proto-Italicprijōs—
4Proto-Italic-jōsForms comparative adjectives
5Proto-Indo-European-yósCreates adjectives from noun or verb stems

Words derived from “prior”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European -yós →