a priori(redirected from A-priori)
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Related to A-priori: À priori
a pri·o·ri(ä′ prē-ôr′ē, ā′ prī-ôr′ī)
1. Proceeding from a known or assumed cause to a necessarily related effect; deductive.
a. Derived by or designating the process of reasoning without reference to particular facts or experience.
b. Knowable without appeal to particular experience.
3. Made before or without examination; not supported by factual study.
[Medieval Latin ā priōrī : Latin ā, from + Latin priōrī, ablative of prior, former.]
a′ pri·o′ri adv.
a′ pri·or′i·ty (-ôr′ĭ-tē, -ŏr′-) n.
a priori(eɪ praɪˈɔːraɪ; ɑː prɪˈɔːrɪ)
1. (Logic) logic relating to or involving deductive reasoning from a general principle to the expected facts or effects
2. (Logic) logic known to be true independently of or in advance of experience of the subject matter; requiring no evidence for its validation or support
[C18: from Latin, literally: from the previous (that is, from cause to effect)]
a pri•o•ri(ˌeɪ praɪˈɔr aɪ, -ˈoʊr aɪ, ˌeɪ priˈɔr i, -ˈoʊr i, ˌɑ priˈɔr i, -ˈoʊr i)
1. from a general law to a particular instance; valid independently of observation. Compare a posteriori (def. 1).
2. existing in the mind independent of experience.
3. conceived beforehand.
a•pri•or•i•ty (-ˈɔr ɪ ti -ˈɒr-) n.
A Latin phrase meaning from the previous, used to mean deduced or known to be true.
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|Adj.||1.||a priori - involving deductive reasoning from a general principle to a necessary effect; not supported by fact; "an a priori judgment"|
analytical, analytic - of a proposition that is necessarily true independent of fact or experience; "`all spinsters are unmarried' is an analytic proposition"
deductive - involving inferences from general principles
a posteriori - involving reasoning from facts or particulars to general principles or from effects to causes; "a posteriori demonstration"
|2.||a priori - based on hypothesis or theory rather than experiment|
|Adv.||1.||a priori - derived by logic, without observed facts|
a posteriori - derived from observed facts