priority Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun status established in order of importance or urgency
    precedency; precedence.
    • ...its precedence as the world's leading manufacturer of pharmaceuticals
    • national independence takes priority over class struggle
  2. noun preceding in time
    antecedency; precedence; anteriority; antecedence; precedency.

WordNet

Pri*or"i*ty noun
Etymology
Cf. F. priorité. See Prior, a.
Definitions
  1. The quality or state of being prior or antecedent in time, or of preceding something else; as, priority of application.
  2. Precedence; superior rank. Shak. Syn. -- Antecedence; precedence; preëminence.

Webster 1913