| prior | The superior of a priory, and next below an abbot in dignity. Conventical, or Conventual, prior, a prior who is at the head of his own house. See the Note under Priory. Claustral prior, an official next in rank to the abbot in a monastery; prior of the cloisters. Origin: OE. Priour, OF. Priour, prior, priur, F. Prieur, from L. Prior former, superior. See Prior. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| prior probability | The best rational assessment of the probability of an outcome on the basis of established knowledge before the present information is included. For instance, the prior probability of the daughter of a carrier of haemophilia being herself haemophiliac is 1/2. But if she already has one child, an affected son, the posterior probability that she is a carrier is unity, whereas if she has one child, a normal one, the posterior probability that she is a carrier is 1/3. See: Bayes theorem. (05 Mar 2000) |
| priory | Origin: Cf. LL. Prioria. See Prior. A religious house presided over by a prior or prioress; sometimes an offshoot of, an subordinate to, an abbey, and called also cell, and obedience. See Cell. Of such houses there were two sorts: one where the prior was chosen by the inmates, and governed as independently as an abbot in an abbey; the other where the priory was subordinate to an abbey, and the prior was placed or displaced at the will of the abbot. Alien priory, a small religious house dependent on a large monastery in some other country. Synonym: See Cloister. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |