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pre·vi·ous (prē′vē əs)

adjective

  1. occurring before in time or order; prior
  2. ☆ Informal too soon; premature

Etymology: L praevius < prae- (see pre-) + via, way (see via)

Related Forms:

previous Idioms

previous to

before

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

previous Synonyms

previous

modif.

  1. Earlier

    preceding, prior, antecedent, former, foregoing, earlier, past; see also former, preceding.

  2. *Too early

    premature, unfounded, unwarranted; see early 2.

previous generally implies a coming before in time or order a previous encounter; prior adds to this a connotation of greater importance or claim as a result of being first a prior commitment; preceding, esp. when used with the definite article, implies a coming immediately before the preceding night; antecedent often adds to the meaning of previous a connotation of direct causal relationship with what follows events antecedent to the war; foregoing applies specif. to something previously said or written the foregoing examples; former always connotes comparison, stated or implied, with what follows or is latter the former owner


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

previous Usage Examples

Modifies a noun

  • experience: Many of these are for people with previous relevant experience.

Modifying Another Word

  • however: Must be capable of the tasks mentioned however previous reception experience is not essential.

Used with adjective complement

  • have: Had left upper and lower jaw wisdom teeth extracted and molar which had previous ' expensive ' root canal work.
previous usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

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MLA Style

"previous." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 4 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/previous>

APA Style

previous. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 4th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/previous

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