a priori

See also: apriori

English

WOTD – 1 February 2012

Alternative forms

Etymology

First attested in 1610, from Latin a priori (“former”), literally from the former.

Adjective

a priori (comparative more a priori, superlative most a priori)

  1. (logic) Based on hypothesis rather than experiment.
    In his opening argument, the student mentioned nothing beyond his a priori knowledge.
  2. Self-evident, intuitively obvious.
  3. Presumed without analysis.
    • 1996, Jeet Heer, Gravitas, Autumn 1996
      While the great critics drew their authority from the breadth of their reading, New Criterion critics often base their authority on an a priori rejection of the contemporary.
  4. (linguistics, of a constructed language) Developed entirely from scratch, without deriving it from existing languages.[1]
    • 2012 November 1, Wright, Laura, “UT Language Creation Society invites students to learn origins of newer languages”, in The Daily Texan‎:
      Conlangers can also create a priori languages, which have no basis in existing languages. You might be familiar with more a priori conlangs than you think: The Klingon language from the television series “Star Trek,” the Na’vi language from the movie “Avatar,” and the Dothraki language from the television series “Game of Thrones” are all examples of a priori languages.

Antonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Adverb

a priori (comparative more a priori, superlative most a priori)

  1. (logic) In a way based on theoretical deduction rather than empirical observation.

Translations

See also

References

  1. ↑ Donald J. Harlow, How to Build a Language

French

Alternative forms

Adjective

a priori (invariable)

  1. intuitively known, a priori

Adverb

a priori

  1. (informal) at first glance

Noun

a priori m (plural a prioris)

  1. a preconceived idea

Antonyms

German

Pronunciation

  • Audio(file)

Adjective

a priori (not comparable)

  1. a priori

Declension

Adverb

a priori

  1. a priori

Further reading

Italian

Adjective

a priori (invariable)

  1. a priori

Adverb

a priori

  1. a priori

Antonyms

Portuguese

Adverb

a priori (comparative mais a priori superlative o mais a priori)

  1. (logic) a priori (derived by logic)

Spanish

Adverb

a priori

  1. beforehand
  2. (logic) a priori
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