Prior quietly sat around (4)
I believe the answer is:
past
'prior' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'quietly sat around' is the wordplay.
'quietly' becomes 'p' (p for piano and quiet).
'around' is an anagram indicator.
'sat' anagrammed gives 'ast'.
'p'+'ast'='PAST'
(Other definitions for past that I've seen before include "Gone by in time" , "Yesteryear" , "historical times" , "tense" , "Finished, gone" .)