The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Priority \Pri*or"i*ty\, n. [Cf. F. priorit['e]. See Prior, a.]
   1. The quality or state of being prior or antecedent in time,
      or of preceding something else; as, priority of
      application.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. Precedence; superior rank. --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

   Priority of debts, a superior claim to payment, or a claim
      to payment before others.
      [1913 Webster]

   Syn: Antecedence; precedence; pre["e]minence.
        [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

priority
    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]