[syn: precession, precedence, precedency]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
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]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
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: 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]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
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
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (30 December 2018):
precedence
operator precedence
Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):
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.