a priori vs theoretical

a priori

adj
  • Based on hypothesis and theory rather than experiment or empirical evidence. 

  • Presumed without analysis. 

  • Self-evident, intuitively obvious. 

  • Developed entirely from scratch, without deriving it from existing languages. 

adv
  • In a way based on theoretical deduction rather than empirical observation. 

theoretical

adj
  • Of or relating to theory; abstract; not empirical. 

How often have the words a priori and theoretical occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )