Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

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.

   2. Precedence; superior rank. --Shak.

   {Priority of debts}, a superior claim to payment, or a claim
      to payment before others.

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

Source : WordNet®

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}]
     2: preceding in time [syn: {antecedence}, {antecedency}, {anteriority},
         {precedence}, {precedency}] [ant: {posteriority}]