precedence
/ˈpɹɛsɪd(ə)ns/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
Australia/ˈpɹiːsɪd(ə)ns/
precedence noun: the state of preceding in importance or priority.
Noun
precedence (countable and uncountable, plural precedences)
- The state of preceding in importance or priority.
- Family takes precedence over work, in an emergency.
- […] where there is then no good / For which to strive, no strife can grow up there / From faction; for none sure will claim in hell / Precedence, none, whose portion is so small / Of present pain, that with ambitious mind / Will covet more.1674, John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book II, lines 30–35
- Antonyms:
- antecedence, antecedency, anteriority, priority
- Precedent.
- Verses of probably no literary value, but illustrating a kind of rhythm, a melodic innovation that you will not find in Chaucer, though there is ample precedence in Provence1934, Ezra Pound, ABC of Reading, London: Faber & Faber, published 1991, page 142
- […] the intention certainly is that all parts of the amendment should cover comparable bodies in Scotland: There is perfectly good precedence for this in Part I of the Bill […]1991 December 3, Hansard
precedence meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Malayalam
precedence in Hindi
- the state of preceding in importance or priority
- वरीयता varīytā, प्राथमिकता prāthmiktā, अग्रिमता agrimtā, पूर्वता pūrvatā
precedence in Tamil
- படிநிலை, முதன்மை, முந்துரிமை, முன்நில், முன்னிகழ்வு, முன்னிலை
precedence in Urdu
- افضلیت, پہل, سبقت, شرف, ترجیح, تقدم
precedence in Malayalam
- മുൻനില, പ്രാധാന്യം, പ്രാഥമ്യം
More languagesFewer languages
- precedence in Kannada
- ಅಗ್ರತೆ, ಅಗ್ರಸ್ಥಾನ, ಆದ್ಯತೆ, ಪ್ರಾಥಮ್ಯ
Examples of precedence in a sentence
- Payne, who was wholly unconscious that we were engaged on the same work, and freely offered him precedence and possession of the field till no longer wanted.1885, Richard Burton, The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, volume 1, page x:
- The details of precedence were never officially determined.1922, Sinclair Lewis, “Chapter VI - III”, in Babbitt, New York: Harcourt, Brace & Co., pages 74–75:
- he saw to my twelve packages on one hand while on the other he dealt with the Emir of the Sea, the harbour master, who in a green gown and yellow turban, was demanding precedence of some sort.1936, Freya Stark, chapter II, in The Southern Gates of Arabia: A Journey in the Hadhramaut, New York: Dutton, page 28:
- The matron said that Cho must give precedence.1938, Xavier Herbert, chapter X, in Capricornia, New York: D. Appleton-Century, published 1943, page 163:
Antonyms of precedence
Forms of precedence
| plural | precedences |
|---|
Origin of precedence
From Middle French précédence (“the state of preceding, anteriority”). Morphologically precede + -ence.
Words formed from precedence
Phrases with precedence
Questions about precedence
- What does precedence mean?
- Precedence means the state of preceding in importance or priority.
- What is precedence in Hindi?
- Precedence in Hindi is वरीयता (varīytā), प्राथमिकता (prāthmiktā), अग्रिमता (agrimtā). See Precedence meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use precedence in a sentence?
- Payne, who was wholly unconscious that we were engaged on the same work, and freely offered him precedence and possession of the field till no longer wanted.
- What part of speech is precedence?
- Precedence is a noun.
- How do you pronounce precedence?
- Precedence is pronounced /ˈpɹɛsɪd(ə)ns/.
- What is the plural of precedence?
- The plural of precedence is precedences.
Words near precedence in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: precedence (page history and authors); precedence (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); precedence (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); precedence (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); precedence (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “precedence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/precedence. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.