Prior vs. Former: What's the Difference?
Prior and Former Definitions
Prior
Preceding in time or order
“[They] insist that foreign vessels seeking access obtain prior approval” (Seymour M. Hersh).
Former
One that forms; a maker or creator
A former of ideas.
Prior
Preceding in importance or value
A prior consideration.
Former
A member of a school form
A fifth former.
Prior
Usage Problem Before.
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Former
The first of two persons or things mentioned
"The army was pulling itself together, the government was coming apart. The success of the former was continually imperiled by the failure of the latter" (Garry Wills).
Prior
A previous conviction or arrest
The suspect has two priors.
Former
Relating to or taking place in the past
In former times.
Prior
A monastic officer in charge of a priory or ranking next below the abbot of an abbey.
Former
Having been so in the past
A former ambassador.
His former boss.
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Prior
One of the ruling magistrates of the medieval Italian republic of Florence.
Former
Being the first of two mentioned.
Prior
Advance; previous; coming before.
I had no prior knowledge you were coming.
Former
Previous.
A former president;
The former East Germany
Prior
Former, previous.
His prior residence was smaller than his current one.
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Former
First of aforementioned two items. Used with the, often without a noun.
The former is a good idea but the latter is not.
We have two cars, a red one and a blue one. We won the former on a game show.
Prior
(colloquial) Previously.
The doctor had known three months prior.
Former
Someone who forms something; a maker; a creator or founder.
Dave was the former of the company.
Prior
A previous arrest or criminal conviction on someone's record.
Former
An object used to form something, such as a template, gauge, or cutting die.
The brick arch was built using a wooden former.
Prior
A prior probability distribution, one based on information or belief before additional data is collected.
Former
Someone in, or of, a certain form (class).
Prior
A belief supported by previous evidence or experience that one can use to make inferences about the future.
Former
One who forms; a maker; a creator.
Prior
A high-ranking member of a monastery, usually lower in rank than an abbot.
Former
A shape around which an article is to be shaped, molded, woven wrapped, pasted, or otherwise constructed.
Prior
(historical) A chief magistrate in Italy.
Former
Preceding in order of time; antecedent; previous; prior; earlier; hence, ancient; long past.
For inquire, I pray thee, of the former age.
The latter and former rain.
Prior
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.
Former
Near the beginning; preceeding; as, the former part of a discourse or argument.
Prior
First, precedent, or superior in the order of cognition, reason or generality, origin, development, rank, etc.
Former
Earlier, as between two things mentioned together; first mentioned.
A bad author deserves better usage than a bad critic; a man may be the former merely through the misfortune of an ill judgment; but he can not be latter without both that and an ill temper.
Prior
The superior of a priory, and next below an abbot in dignity.
Former
The first of two or the first mentioned of two;
Tom and Dick were both heroes but only the former is remembered today
Prior
A chief magistrate, as in the republic of Florence in the middle ages.
Former
Referring to the first of two things or persons mentioned (or the earlier one or ones of several);
The novel was made into a film in 1943 and again in 1967; I prefer the former version to the latter one
Prior
A prior conviction; - said of an accused criminal.
Former
Belonging to some prior time;
Erstwhile friend
Our former glory
The once capital of the state
Her quondam lover
Prior
The head of a religious order; in an abbey the prior is next below the abbot
Former
(used especially of persons) of the immediate past;
The former president
Our late President is still very active
The previous occupant of the White House
Prior
Earlier in time
Former
Of the distant past;
The early inhabitants of Europe
Former generations
In other times
