Standard Lemma guide

previous

adj · noun · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American: /ˈpɹi.vi.əs/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈpɹiː.vɪəs/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: P R IY1 V IY0 AH0 S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Prior; occurring before something else, either in time or order.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Examples

  • He is no better than the previous Prime Minister.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Premature; acting or occurring too soon.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: informal

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

An existing criminal record (short for "previous convictions")

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: UK, countable, informal, uncountable

Examples

  • It turned out the shoplifter had a lot of previous.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: form

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

A track record of similar behaviour, especially bad behaviour.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: UK, countable, informal, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

A record of previous hostility or conflict (between people).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: UK, countable, informal, uncountable

Examples

  • The two players refused to shake hands — there's a bit of previous there.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Latin praevius.

Across languages

Translations

95 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: سَابِق (sābiq) — prior
  • Arabic: قبل (ʔabl) — prior
  • Armenian: նախորդ (naxord) — prior
  • Asturian: previu — prior
  • Asturian: anterior — prior
  • Azerbaijani: ötən — prior
  • Azerbaijani: keçən — prior
  • Azerbaijani: keçmiş — prior
  • Belarusian: міну́лы (minúly) — prior
  • Belarusian: папярэ́дні (papjarédni) — prior
  • Bengali: সাবেক (śabek) — prior
  • Bulgarian: предишен (predišen) — prior
  • Burmese: အလျင် (a.lyang) — prior
  • Catalan: previ — prior
  • Catalan: anterior — prior
  • Chagatai: بورونغی (bwrwnġy) — prior
  • Chagatai: اولغی (ʾwlġy) — prior
  • Chinese Mandarin: 以前的 (yǐqián de) — prior
  • Chinese Mandarin: 上 (shàng) — prior
  • Czech: předchozí — prior
  • Danish: foregående — prior
  • Danish: forrige — prior
  • Dutch: vorig — prior
  • Esperanto: antaŭa — prior
  • Finnish: edellinen — prior
  • Finnish: aikaisempi — prior
  • Finnish: aiempi — prior
  • French: précédent — prior
  • Galician: previo — prior
  • Galician: anterior — prior
  • German: vorhergehend — prior
  • Gothic: 𐍆𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌽𐍃 (fairns) — prior
  • Greek: προηγούμενος (proïgoúmenos) — prior
  • Hebrew: קוֹדֵם (qodém) — prior
  • Hindi: पिछला (pichlā) — prior
  • Hungarian: előző — prior
  • Hungarian: megelőző — prior
  • Ido: antea — prior
  • Italian: previo — prior
  • Japanese: 前の (mae no) — prior
  • Japanese: 前 (zen-) — prior
  • Khmer: មុន (mun) — prior
  • Khmer: បុព្វេ (boppei) — prior
  • Korean: 이전의 (ijeonui) — prior
  • Central Kurdish: پێشو (pêşu) — prior
  • Central Kurdish: ڕابردو (rabirdu) — prior
  • Lao: ກ່ອນ (kǭn) — prior
  • Lao: ບຸບເພ (bup phē) — prior
  • Lao: ກີ້ (kī) — prior
  • Latin: prior — prior
  • Latin: antiquus — prior
  • Lithuanian: ankstesnis — prior
  • Māori: tōmua — prior
  • Norwegian Bokmål: forrige — prior
  • Norwegian Bokmål: foregående — prior
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: førre — prior
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: føregåande — prior
  • Occitan: anterior — prior
  • Old English: forestapol — prior
  • Persian: پیشین (pišin) — prior
  • Polish: poprzedni — prior
  • Polish: ubiegły — prior
  • Portuguese: prévio — prior
  • Russian: предыду́щий (predydúščij) — prior
  • Russian: про́шлый (próšlyj) — prior
  • Spanish: previo — prior
  • Spanish: antecesor — prior
  • Spanish: precursor — prior
  • Swedish: förra — prior
  • Swedish: föregående — prior
  • Thai: ก่อนหน้านี้ — prior
  • Thai: ก่อน (gɔ̀ɔn) — prior
  • Thai: ที่แล้ว (tîi-lɛ́ɛo) — prior
  • Thai: เก่า (gào) — prior
  • Thai: เดิม (dəəm) — prior
  • Thai: กี้ (gîi) — prior
  • Tibetan: སྔོན་མ (sngon ma) — prior
  • Turkish: önceki — prior
  • Turkish: evvelki — prior
  • Ukrainian: попере́дній (poperédnij) — prior
  • Ukrainian: мину́лий (mynúlyj) — prior
  • Urdu: پچھلا (pichlā) — prior
  • Uyghur: ئاۋۋالقى (awwalqi) — prior
  • Uyghur: بالدۇرقى (baldurqi) — prior
  • Uyghur: بۇرۇنقى (burunqi) — prior
  • Uzbek: avvalgi — prior
  • Uzbek: burungi — prior
  • Vietnamese: qua — prior
  • Welsh: blaenorol — prior
  • Bulgarian: прибързан (pribǎrzan) — premature
  • Catalan: prematur — premature
  • Dutch: voorbarig — premature
  • Persian: نابه هنگام (nâbehangâm) — premature
  • Polish: przedwczesny — premature
  • Swedish: tidig — premature
Real reading context

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