Pri‐or″i‐ty (?), n. [Cf. F. priorité. See Prior, a.] 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.
Priority of debts, a superior claim to payment, or a claim to payment before others.
Syn. — Antecedence; precedence; preëminence.