Precedence - Definition

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: precedence, precedency,
priority]
2: preceding in time [syn: priority, antecedence,
antecedency, anteriority, precedence, precedency]
[ant: posteriority, subsequence, subsequentness]
3: the act of preceding in time or order or rank (as in a
ceremony) [syn: precession, precedence, precedency]