priority
priority Lexical Profile
priority Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A thing that is regarded as more important than others and therefore dealt with or attended to first.
"Ensuring the safety of the passengers is the airline's highest priority."
The fact or condition of being regarded or treated as more important than others; precedence in rank, urgency, or attention.
"Emergency vehicles always have priority over regular traffic at intersections."
The state or quality of being earlier in time or occurrence, such as in establishing a patent or scientific discovery.
"The two laboratories disputed priority over the discovery of the new chemical element."
• Rhymes for priority
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the late 14th century from Old French priorite, from Medieval Latin prioritas ('the state of being earlier or first'), derived from Latin prior ('former, superior'). Originally meaning exclusively the state of being first in time or rank, the plural form 'priorities' and the sense of 'something important among several options' emerged only in the 20th century.