a priori
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a priori
- /ˌɑː pɹiˈɔːɹi/ UK
- /ˌeɪ pɹaɪˈɔːɹaɪ/ UK
- /ˌɑ pɹiˈoɹi/ US
- /ˌæ pɹiˈoɹi/ US
- /ˌeɪ pɹiˈoɹi/ US
- /ˌeɪ pɹaɪˈoɹaɪ/ US
Rhymes with -ɔːɹi, -ɔːɹaɪ
Where it comes from
First attested in 1610. Learned borrowing from Medieval Latin ā priōrī (“involving reasoning from cause to effect; from first principles”, literally “from the former”).
adjective more a priori · most a priori · apriori
- Self-evident, intuitively obvious.
- Presumed without analysis.
- Based on hypothesis and theory rather than experiment or empirical evidence. In his opening argument, the student mentioned nothing beyond his a priori knowledge.
- Developed entirely from scratch, without deriving it from existing languages. 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 tele
Similar: deductive · Opposite: a posteriori
adverb more a priori · most a priori · apriori
-
In a way based on theoretical deduction rather than empirical observation.
Similar: deductively[Appendix:Glossary · Opposite: a posteriori, inductively
Thesaurus
adjective
Similar: deductive · Opposite: a posteriori
Translations
Every language
adj self-evident, intuitively obvious
| Español | a priori |
|---|
adj presumed without analysis
| Español | a priori |
|---|
adj logic: based on hypothesis rather than experiment
| Español | a priori |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 선험적인 seonheomjeogin |
| 日本語 | 先験的 senkenteki, アプリオリ apuriori |
| 中文 | 先驗 /先验 xiānyàn |
| हिन्दी | प्रागनुभविक prāgnubhvik, अनुभवनिरपेक्ष anubhvanirpekṣ |
| Português | a priori |
| Italiano | a priori, teorico, preconcetto |
| Ελληνικά | επαγωγικός epagogikós, συμπερασματικός symperasmatikós |
| Русский | априо́рный apriórnyj, доо́пытный doópytnyj, предположи́тельный predpoložítelʹnyj |
| Tiếng Việt | tiên nghiệm |
| العربية | مُسَلَّم بِه musallam bih, لَا يُحْتَاجُ إِثْبَاتَة إِلَى تَجْرِبَة |
adj linguistics: developed entirely from scratch
| Español | a priori |
|---|
adv derived by logic
| Español | a priori |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | アプリオリ apuriori |
| 中文 | 先驗 /先验 xiānyàn |
| हिन्दी | पूर्वसिद्ध pūrvasiddh |
| Português | a priori |
| Français | a priori |
| Deutsch | a priori |
| Italiano | a priori |
| Ελληνικά | εκ των προτέρων ek ton protéron |
| Română | a priori |
| Русский | априо́ри aprióri, зара́нее zaráneje, незави́симо от о́пыта nezavísimo ot ópyta, до о́пыта do ópyta |
| العربية | مُسَبَّق musabbaq |
| עברית | אפריורי apriori |
Talk about this word "a priori." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/a%20priori. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. a priori. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/a%20priori "a priori." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/a%20priori.Cite this
@misc{a_priori_2026,
title = {a priori},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/a%20priori},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
