1. A method or procedure that was used or established before another method; a preceding technique or approach
The prior method proved to be less efficient than the new approach.
O método anterior se mostrou menos eficiente que a nova abordagem.
2. In statistics and Bayesian analysis, the initial probability distribution assigned to a parameter before observing data
The researcher selected a weak prior method to avoid biasing the results.
O pesquisador selecionou um método anterior fraco para evitar vieses nos resultados.