previous

Universal Words adjective [onlybeforenoun] 1 happening or existing before the event or object that you are talking about: No previous experience is necessary for this job. * The car has only had one previous owner. * She is his daughter from a previous marriage. * I was unable to attend because of a previous engagement. * The judge will take into consideration any previous convictions. * We dealt with this in a previous chapter. * We had met on two previous occasions. 2 immediately before the time you are talking about SYNPRECEDING: I couldn't believe it when I heard the news. I'd only seen him the previous day. previously adverb: The building had previously been used as a hotel. * The book contains a number of photographs not previously published. * I had visited them three days previously. previous to preposition (spoken): Previous to this, she'd always been well.