following vs prior

following

adj
  • Coming next, either in sequence or in time. 

  • About to be specified. 

  • Blowing in the direction of travel. 

noun
  • A thing or things to be mentioned immediately after. 

  • A group of followers, attendants or admirers; an entourage. 

  • Vocation; business; profession. 

prep
  • After, subsequent to. 

prior

adj
  • Advance; previous; coming before. 

  • Former, previous. 

noun
  • A high-ranking member of a monastery, usually lower in rank than an abbot. 

  • A prior probability distribution, one based on information or belief before additional data is collected. 

  • A belief supported by previous evidence or experience that one can use to make inferences about the future. 

  • A chief magistrate in Italy. 

  • A previous arrest or criminal conviction on someone's record. 

adv
  • Previously. 

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