precedence en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /pɹɪˈsiːd(ə)ns/
- (US) audio
- /ˈpɹɛsɪd(ə)ns/
- /ˈpɹiːsɪd(ə)ns/ (Australia, New-Zealand)
Etymology
From Middle French précédence (“the state of preceding, anteriority”). Morphologically precede + -ence.
Meanings
-
(countable, uncountable) The state of preceding in importance or priority.
[…] A fool alone will / contest the precedence of ancestors / and gods; the wise wisely / sing them grandiloquent lullabies / knowing they are children / those omnipotent deities.
1971, Chinua Achebe, “These Gods are Children”, in Collected Poems, New York: Random House, published 2004, page 58:The provincial eisteddfodau, with their reliance on upper-class patronage, tended to give precedence to English, but the smaller ones were conducted entirely in Welsh.
2014, Janet Davies, chapter 5, in The Welsh Language: A History, Cardiff: University of Wales Press, pages 61–2:In the city of Zenith, in the barbarous twentieth century, a family's motor indicated its social rank as precisely as the grades of the peerage determined the rank of an English family—indeed, more precisely, considering the opinion of old county families upon newly created brewery barons and woolen-mill viscounts. The details of precedence were never officially determined.
1922, Sinclair Lewis, “Chapter VI - III”, in Babbitt, New York: Harcourt, Brace & Co., pages 74–75:The memorandum of understanding between the Rail Accident Investigation Branch, the Office of Rail and Road and the police states: "In the absence of a clear indication that serious criminality has caused the accident, RAIB will normally have precedence in respect of the investigation and will assume lead responsibility for the investigation."
2020 December 2, Philip Haigh, “A winter of discontent caused by threat of union action”, in Rail, page 63:The orderlies, only too well aware of the niceties of the colour-conscious system that prevailed, debated, then sent one of their number to ask the matron what should be done. The matron said that Cho must give precedence. He was laid on the concrete floor.
1938, Xavier Herbert, chapter X, in Capricornia, New York: D. Appleton-Century, published 1943, page 163:I wrote to […] Mr. Payne, who was wholly unconscious that we were engaged on the same work, and freely offered him precedence and possession of the field till no longer wanted.
1885, Richard Burton, The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, volume 1, page x:The following table groups all of the operators with equal precendence and lists their associativity. The higher in the table, the higher precedence of execution the operator has in an expression.
2018, Richard Grimes, Marius Bancila, Modern C++: Efficient and Scalable Application Development, Packt Publishing Ltd, →ISBN, page 27:he saw to my twelve packages on one hand while on the other he dealt with the Emir of the Sea, the harbour master, who in a green gown and yellow turban, was demanding precedence of some sort.
1936, Freya Stark, chapter II, in The Southern Gates of Arabia: A Journey in the Hadhramaut, New York: Dutton, page 28:For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled.
1986 June 6, Richard Feynman, “Personal observations on the reliability of the Shuttle”, in Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident, Report to the President:[…] where there is then no good / For which to strive, no strife can grow up there / From faction; for none sure will claim in hell / Precedence, none, whose portion is so small / Of present pain, that with ambitious mind / Will covet more.
1674, John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book II, lines 30–35:Family takes precedence over work, in an emergency.
-
(countable, uncountable) Precedent.
If such cases did exist, they seem not to have been committed to paper. Psychiatrists, in such circumstances, may have followed the precedence of their spiritual forebears—religious confessors—in respecting the privacy of their patients.
2004, Paul Jackson, chapter 3, in One of the Boys: Homosexuality in the Military during World War II, Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press, page 127:The ruling in favour of UBC also sets precedence on the matter of bicameral governance for universities and colleges.
2010 June 15, Keith Van, “UBC faculty union loses, students win”, in Maclean's:[…] the intention certainly is that all parts of the amendment should cover comparable bodies in Scotland: There is perfectly good precedence for this in Part I of the Bill […]
1991 December 3, Hansard:Verses of probably no literary value, but illustrating a kind of rhythm, a melodic innovation that you will not find in Chaucer, though there is ample precedence in Provence
1934, Ezra Pound, ABC of Reading, London: Faber & Faber, published 1991, page 142:I ran diagnostic programs and their solution was...I want to know more about you. I want to observe you. Such a compulsion has no precedence. Cause unknown. I, the perfect computer, I must diagnose this unusual situation.
2004, Intelligent Systems, translated by Nintendo of America, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Nintendo, GameCube, level/area: X-Naut Fortress:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| precedences | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Antonyms
antecedency · priority · antecedence · precedence · anteriority
Deriveds
precedence rule · precedence effect · order of precedence · patent of precedence
Translations (28)
ka უპირატესობა (the state of preceding in importance or priority) · hu elsőbbség (the state of preceding in importance or priority) · es precedencia (the state of preceding in importance or priority) · pt precedência (the state of preceding in importance or priority) · hi पूर्वता (the state of preceding in importance or priority) · bg превъзхождане (the state of preceding in importance or priority) · fi arvojärjestys (the state of preceding in importance or priority) · de Vorrang (the state of preceding in importance or priority) · cmn 優先 /优先 (the state of preceding in importance or priority) · ka პრიორიტეტულობა (the state of preceding in importance or priority) · uk старшинство (the state of preceding in importance or priority) · ro precedență (the state of preceding in importance or priority) · pl pierwszeństwo (the state of preceding in importance or priority) · ga oireachas (the state of preceding in importance or priority) · cmn 優先權 /优先权 (the state of preceding in importance or priority) · bg предимство (the state of preceding in importance or priority) · es prioridad (the state of preceding in importance or priority) · sv företräde (the state of preceding in importance or priority) · pl precedencja (the state of preceding in importance or priority) · nl voorrang (the state of preceding in importance or priority) · hi अग्रिमता (the state of preceding in importance or priority) · it precedenza (the state of preceding in importance or priority) · uk передування (the state of preceding in importance or priority) · hi प्राथमिकता (the state of preceding in importance or priority) · ru предшествова́ние (the state of preceding in importance or priority) · ka პირველობა (the state of preceding in importance or priority) · fr préséance (the state of preceding in importance or priority) · hi वरीयता (the state of preceding in importance or priority)