previous
AdjectiveOpen English WordNet
Adjective (3)
- just preceding something else in time or order“the previous owner”“my old house was larger”Synonyms: oldOpposite succeedingSimilar preceding
- (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”Synonyms: formerlateOpposite present, futureSimilar past
- too soon or too hasty“our condemnation of him was a bit previous”“a premature judgment”Synonyms: prematureOpposite middle, lateSimilar early
What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz
Translations
Adjective prior, earlier
- Spanish
- previo
- French
- précédent
- German
- vorhergehend
- Italian
- precedente
- Portuguese
- anterior
- Turkish
- önceki
- Russian
- предыду́щий predydúščij
- Arabic
- سَابِق sābiq
- Chinese
- 先前 xiānqián
- Japanese
- 前の mae no
19 more languages
- Dutch
- vorig
- Polish
- poprzedni
- Swedish
- föregående
- Greek
- προηγούμενος proïgoúmenos
- Vietnamese
- qua
- Hungarian
- előző
- Portuguese (PT)
- prévio
- Catalan
- previ
- Czech
- předchozí
- Danish
- forrige
- Esperanto
- antaŭa
- Estonian
- eelmine
- Finnish
- edellinen
- Georgian
- ყოფილი qop'ili
- Hebrew
- קוֹדֵם qodém
- Norwegian
- forrige
- Romanian
- anterior
- Welsh
- blaenorol
- Yiddish
- פֿריִערדיק frierdik
The main translation for each meaning, from the langtolang.com multilingual dictionary. Each word links to its full entry there.
Webster's Dictionary (1913)
Origin: 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.— James Thomson
Previous question. Parliamentary Practice See under Question, and compare Closure. — Previous to, before; — often used adverbially for previously. “Previous to publication.” Matthew Arnold “A policy... his friends had advised previous to 1710.” Cardinal John Henry Newman
Synonyms: Antecedent; preceding; anterior; prior; foregoing; former.
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54