Precedence

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Precedence \Pre*ced"ence\, Precedency \Pre*ced"en*cy\, n. [Cf.
     F. pr['e]c['e]dence. See {Precede}.]
     1. The act or state of preceding or going before in order of
        time; priority; as, one event has precedence of another.
        [1913 Webster]
  


     2. The act or state of going or being before in rank or
        dignity, or the place of honor; right to a more honorable
        place; superior rank; as, barons have precedence of
        commoners.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Which of them [the different desires] has the
              precedency in determining the will to the next
              action?                               --Locke.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Syn: Antecedence; priority; pre["e]minence; preference;
          superiority.
          [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  precedence
       n 1: status established in order of importance or urgency;
            "...its precedence as the world's leading manufacturer
            of pharmaceuticals"; "national independence takes
            priority over class struggle" [syn: {precedency}, {priority}]
       2: preceding in time [syn: {priority}, {antecedence}, {antecedency},
           {anteriority}, {precedency}] [ant: {posteriority}]
       3: the act of preceding in time or order or rank (as in a
          ceremony) [syn: {precession}, {precedency}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  106 Moby Thesaurus words for "precedence":
     accent, accomplishment, antecedence, antecedency, antedate,
     antedating, anteposition, anteriority, anticipation, ascendancy,
     authority, caste, class, concern, concernment, condition,
     consequence, consequentiality, consideration, deanship,
     earlier state, earliness, echelon, eminence, emphasis, excellence,
     favor, footing, foregoing, front, greatness, heading, hierarchy,
     high order, high rank, import, importance, incomparability,
     influence, influentialness, inimitability, interest, le pas, lead,
     leading, majority, mark, materiality, merit, moment, note,
     one-upmanship, order, paramountcy, past time, place, position,
     power structure, precedency, preceding, precession, precursor,
     predating, predominance, predomination, preeminence, preexistence,
     preference, preponderance, prepotence, prepotency, prerogative,
     pressure, prestige, primacy, priority, privilege, prominence, rank,
     rate, rating, right-of-way, self-importance, seniority,
     significance, skill, sphere, stage, standing, station, stature,
     status, status quo ante, stress, success, superiority, supremacy,
     the lead, transcendence, transcendency, value, van, virtuosity,
     weight, weightiness, worth
  
  

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  PRECEDENCE. The right of being first placed in a certain order, the first 
  rank being supposed the most honorable. 
       2. In this country no precedence is given by law to men. 
       3. Nations, in their intercourse with each other, do not admit any 
  precedence; hence in their treaties in one copy one is named first, and the 
  other in the other. In some cases of officers when one must of necessity act 
  as the chief, the oldest in commission will have precedence; as when the 
  president of a court is not present, the associate who has the oldest 
  commission will have a precedence; or if their. commissions bear the same 
  date, then the oldest man. 
       4. In. the, army and navy there is an order of precedence which 
  regulates the officers in their command.