Meanings
- archaicnot comparableFirst; beforehand, in advance.
I must, however, previously remark, that the power of generalizing ideas, to any great extent, is not very common amongst men or women.
1791 (date written), Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: With Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], published 1792, →OCLC - not comparableAt an earlier time; already.
The discovery of a previously unknown species had taken place nearly two years previously.
2 more examples
Pliny the Elder, the Roman encyclopedist, declares that to urinate in a spot where a dog has previously done so results in loss of virility.
1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 239In the lawsuit, Giuffre claimed she was forced to have sex with a “large amount of people,” some of whom had not previously been named including New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson […].
2019 August 10, Julie Brown, Veronica Penney, Daniel Chang, Sarah Blaskey, “Jeffrey Epstein is gone, but allegations against powerful associates linger”, in Tampa Bay Times - not comparablebroadcastingRecapitulating the preceding episodes of a series.
Synonyms & antonyms
adverbat an earlier time or formerly
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Englishprevious
- Proto-Indo-European*leyg-
- Proto-Germanic*līką
- Englishpreviously
Translations
Arabic قَبْلًا, قَبْل
- قَبْلًا (qablan)at an earlier time
- قَبْل (qabl)at an earlier time
Bulgarian преди, някога
- преди (predi)at an earlier time
- някога (njakoga)at an earlier time
Catalan anteriorment, prèviament
- anteriormentat an earlier time
- prèviamentat an earlier time
Chinese Cantonese 以前, 舊時 /旧时
- 以前 (ji⁵ cin⁴)at an earlier time
- 舊時 /旧时 (gau⁶ si⁴)at an earlier time
Chinese Mandarin 以前, 先前
- 以前 (yǐqián)at an earlier time
- 先前 (xiānqián)at an earlier time
Czech dříve, předtím
- dříveat an earlier time
- předtímat an earlier time
Danish før
- førat an earlier time
Dutch tevoren, vroeger
- tevorenat an earlier time
- vroegerat an earlier time
- wat voorafgingrecapitulating the preceding episodes of a series
Esperanto antaŭe
- antaŭeat an earlier time
Finnish aikaisemmin, aiemmin
- aikaisemminat an earlier time
- aiemminat an earlier time
French autrefois, auparavant
- autrefoisat an earlier time
- auparavantat an earlier time
- antérieurementat an earlier time
- précédemmentat an earlier time
German zuvor, vorher
- zuvorat an earlier time
- vorherat an earlier time
- früherat an earlier time
- ehemalsat an earlier time
Greek προηγουμένως
- προηγουμένως (proïgouménos)at an earlier time
Hindi पहले
- पहले (pahle)at an earlier time
Hungarian azelőtt, az előzőekben
- azelőttat an earlier time
- az előzőekbenat an earlier time
- korábbanat an earlier time
- az előző részek tartalmábólrecapitulating the preceding episodes of a series
Icelandic áður
- áðurat an earlier time
Indonesian dulu
- duluat an earlier time
Irish roimh ré
- roimh réat an earlier time
Italian precedentemente, anteriormente
- precedentementeat an earlier time
- anteriormenteat an earlier time
- in antecedenzaat an earlier time
- antecedentementeat an earlier time
- in precedenzaat an earlier time
Japanese 予め, 以前
- 予め (arakajime)at an earlier time
- 以前 (izen)at an earlier time
- 予て (kanete)at an earlier time
- 先に (saki-ni)at an earlier time
Korean 앞서
- 앞서 (apseo)at an earlier time
Latin prius, anteā
- priusat an earlier time
- anteāat an earlier time
Persian قبلا
- قبلا (qablan)at an earlier time
Polish poprzednio
- poprzednioat an earlier time
Portuguese antes, anteriormente
- antesat an earlier time
- anteriormenteat an earlier time
Russian пре́жде, ра́нее
- пре́жде (préžde)at an earlier time
- ра́нее (ráneje)at an earlier time
- ра́ньше (ránʹše)at an earlier time
Scottish Gaelic ro làimh
- ro làimhat an earlier time
Spanish anteriormente, previamente
- anteriormenteat an earlier time
- previamenteat an earlier time
- con anterioridadat an earlier time
Swedish förut, tidigare
- förutat an earlier time
- tidigareat an earlier time
Urdu پہلے
- پہلے (pahle)at an earlier time
Welsh o'r blaen, yn flaenorol
- o'r blaenat an earlier time
- yn flaenorolat an earlier time
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
previously. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/previously
“previously.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/previously. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “previously,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/previously.
Source: previously on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.