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]

	

	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]

	

	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

	

	precedence

   operator precedence

	

	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.