Pre"vi*ous (?), a. [L. praevius going before, leading the way; prae before + via the way. See Voyage.]
Going before in time; being or happening before something else; antecedent; prior; as, previous arrangements; a previous illness.
The dull sound . . . previous to the storm,
Rolls o'er the muttering earth.
Thomson.
Previous question. Parliamentary Practice See under Question, and compare Closure. -- Previous to, before; -- often used adverbially for previously. "Previous to publication." M. Arnold. "A policy . . . his friends had advised previous to 1710." J. H. Newman.
Syn. -- Antecedent; preceding; anterior; prior; foregoing; former.
© Webster 1913.