PRE'VIOUS, adjective [Latin proevius; proe, before, and via, way, that is, a going.] Going before in time; being or happening before something else; antecedent; prior; as a previous intimation of a design; a previous notion; a previous event. Sound from the mountain, previous to the storm, Rolls o'er the muttering earth.
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI