Previous | Mean of previous in English Dictionary

/ˈpriːvijəs/

• existing or happening before the present time
1. She has a child from a previous marriage.
2. She has made previous attempts to quit smoking. [=she has tried to quit smoking before]
3. No previous [=past] experience is necessary.
4. I can't go to the party because of a previous [=prior] engagement. [=because I agreed to be somewhere else before I knew about the party]
• earlier in time or order
1. In previous [=past] years, we always went to the beach for vacation.
2. a previous album/book [=an album/book made before the current album/book]
3. The two characters met in a previous chapter.
4. the previous owners of the house
• immediately before in time or order
1. It was Tuesday, and we'd met for lunch the previous day. [=the day immediately before; Monday]

• before (a time, event, etc.)
1. I lived in Boston for a while and previous to [=prior to] that, I lived in Miami.