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A Prior

  1. A high-ranking member of a monastery, usually lower in rank than an abbot.
  2. (historical) A chief magistrate in Italy.
  3. (US, law enforcement) A previous arrest or criminal conviction on someone's record. [from 19th c.]
  4. (statistics) In Bayesian inference, a prior probability distribution, one based on information or belief before additional data is collected. [from 20th c.]
Synonyms

(second-in-command to an abbot): provost