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previous to - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Previous \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.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           The dull sound . . . previous to the storm,
           Rolls o'er the muttering earth.          --Thomson.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     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.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Syn: Antecedent; preceding; anterior; prior; foregoing;
          former.
          [1913 Webster]