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prior:
(plural: ‘priors‘; female: ‘prioress‘)
a prior and a prioress in full costumes
a religious person in charge of a priory (‘priory’ = a Christian religious house/monastery);
(old usage) a magistrate (judge) of the medieval Italian city of Florence,
e.g.
A prior is just below the rank of an abbot and is in charge of a monastery, and a prioress is a senior nun who is in charge of a convent.
{Note 1: ‘Prior’ is more commonly used as an adjective to refer to something or someone that is before or until in time or order, or earlier in time, , e.g. “He does not obtain any prior permission to enter the examination hall.” i.e. he does not ask for permission to enter the exam hall before the appointed time; ‘prior to’ = before, e.g. “She has to clear all her debts prior to her resigning her job.”}
{Note 2: ‘Prior’, always with a capital ‘P’, is often found in the names of people, e.g. ‘Jason Prior’, ‘Sophia Prior’, etc.}
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