Adjacent Words

Previous definitions

	Tweet

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

PRE'VIOUS, a. [L. proevius; proe, before, and via, way, that is, a going.] Going before in time; being or happening before something else; antecedent; prior; as a previous intimation of a design; a previous notion; a previous event.
Sound from the mountain, previous to the storm,
Rolls o'er the muttering earth.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: just preceding something else in time or order; "the previous owner"; "my old house was larger" [syn: previous, old]
2: (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" [syn: former, late, previous]
3: too soon or too hasty; "our condemnation of him was a bit previous"; "a premature judgment" [syn: previous, premature]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Etymology: Latin praevius leading the way, from prae- pre- + via way — more at way Date: 1625 1. going before in time or order ; prior 2. acting too soon ; premature <somewhat previous in his conclusion> Synonyms: see preceding • previously adverb • previousness noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. & adv. --adj. 1 (often foll. by to) coming before in time or order. 2 done or acting hastily. --adv. (foll. by to) before (had called previous to writing). Phrases and idioms: previous question Parl. a motion concerning the vote on a main question. Derivatives: previously adv. previousness n. Etymology: L praevius (as PRAE-, via way)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Previous Pre"vi*ous, a. [L. praevius going before, leading the way; prae before + via the way. See Voyage.] Going before in time; being or happening before something else; antecedent; prior; as, previous arrangements; a previous illness. The dull sound . . . previous to the storm, Rolls o'er the muttering earth. --Thomson. Previous question. (Parliamentary Practice) See under Question, and compare Closure. Previous to, before; -- often used adverbially for previously. ``Previous to publication.'' --M. Arnold. ``A policy . . . his friends had advised previous to 1710.'' --J. H. Newman. Syn: Antecedent; preceding; anterior; prior; foregoing; former.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. A previous event or thing is one that happened or existed before the one that you are talking about. She has a teenage daughter from a previous marriage... He has no previous convictions. ADJ: ADJ n 2. You refer to the period of time or the thing immediately before the one that you are talking about as the previous one. It was a surprisingly dry day after the rain of the previous week... ADJ: det ADJ

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. Antecedent, prior, former, preceding, anterior, foregoing.

Moby Thesaurus

a bit previous, above, advanced, aforementioned, aforesaid, ahead, ancient, ante, antecedent, anterior, anticipatory, before, beforehand, ci-devant, earlier, early, elder, erstwhile, far ahead, first, fore, foregoing, former, forward, half-baked, half-cocked, hasty, ill-considered, immemorial, impulsive, in advance, late, not firm, old, olden, older, once, onetime, overhasty, oversoon, past, precedent, preceding, precipitate, precocious, precurrent, preexistent, prehistoric, premature, previous to, prime, primeval, primitive, prior, prior to, quondam, recent, rushed, senior, sometime, soon, then, too early, too soon, uncrystallized, unjelled, unmatured, unmeditated, unpremeditated, unprepared, unripe, untimely, whilom