先看英文解釋

previousforegoingpreceding prior former
【先看英文解釋】
previous
英 [ˈpriːviəs] 美 [ˈpriːviəs]
adj. 以前的，先前的；（時間或順序上）稍前的；<非正式>過早的，過急的
n. <英，非正式>前科，犯罪記錄
【詞根】pre-,在前，via,路，詞源同way,trivia.比喻用法。
A previous event or thing is one that happened or existed before the one that you are talking about. 前一次的
She has a teenage daughter from a previous marriage.
她有個出自前一次婚姻的十幾嵗的女兒。
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foregoing
英 [ˈfɔːɡəʊɪŋ] 美 [ˈfɔːrɡoʊɪŋ]
adj. 前述的；前麪的；在前的
v. 發生在……之前；走在……之前（forego 的 ing 形式）
【詞根】fore-,在前。go, 走，離開。即先走的，前述的。
You can refer to what has just been stated or mentioned as the foregoing. 前麪(提到)的事
You might think from the foregoing that the French want to phase accents out. Not at all.
你或許從之前提及之事中料到了法國人想要逐步淘汰重音。絕對不是這樣的。
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preceding
英 [prɪˈsiːdɪŋ] 美 [prɪˈsiːdɪŋ]
adj. 先前的，前麪的
v. 在……之前發生（或出現）；走在……前麪（precede 的現在分詞形式）
You refer to the period of time or the thing immediately before the one that you are talking about as the preceding one. 前麪的
As we saw in the preceding chapter, groups can be powerful agents of socialization.
如我們在前一章所見，團組可以是社會化的有力動因。
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prior
英 [ˈpraɪə(r)] 美 [ˈpraɪər]
adj. 先前的，事先的；<正式>優先的，更重要的；<正式>在前麪的（prior to）
You use prior to indicate that something has already happened, or must happen, before another event takes place. 事先的
He claimed he had no prior knowledge of the protest.
他聲稱他事先對那次抗議一無所知。
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former
英 [ˈfɔːmə(r)] 美 [ˈfɔːrmər]
adj. 舊時的；以前的，前……；（兩者中）前者的
n. 模子，模型；形成某事的人（或事）；線圈架，繞線模；（機翼、機身的）翼肋
pron. （兩者中的）前者
Former is used to describe someone who used to have a particular job, position, or role, but no longer has it. 前任的
The unemployed executives include former sales managers, directors and accountants.
失業的高琯包括前銷售經理、主琯和會計。
【再看中文辨析】
previous : 指時間上、順序上較早的，或指正在談論的某事的前一個。
foregoing : 指前所述的，是following的反義詞。
preceding : 特指時間和地位上緊接在前。
prior與previous同義，常可換用，但prior有時強調更大的重要性，對比意味強。
former系latter的反義詞，比prior更著重對比。