# priority

Pronunciation: US say "pry-AWR-i-tee" /pɹaɪˈɔɹɪti/; UK say "pry-OR-i-tee" /pɹaɪˈɒɹɪti/

## Noun

1. The relative importance of something compared with other things.
   - Simple: How important something is compared with other things.
   - _The committee assigned each request a priority based on its urgency._
   - _Cost and speed both matter, but for this project quality takes priority._
2. A goal that a person or an organization aims to achieve.
   - Simple: Something a person or group most wants to do or achieve.
   - _The company's top priority for the year is expanding overseas._
   - _Reducing waste became a key priority for the whole team._
3. Precedence over others; superior rank or standing.
   - Simple: The state of being more important and coming before others in rank or order.
   - _Senior staff take priority when choosing their vacation dates._
   - _Creditors with secured loans have priority over other claimants._
4. The quality of being earlier than, or coming before, another thing in time.
   - Simple: Being earlier than something else, or coming first in time.
   - _Scientists argued about the priority of the two competing discoveries._
   - _The dated manuscript settled the question of priority between the rivals._
5. On the road, the right to go through an intersection ahead of other traffic.
   - Simple: The right to go through a junction before other road users.
   - _Vehicles already on the roundabout have priority over those entering it._
   - _At an unmarked crossroads, drivers must decide who has priority._
6. A superior claim to use a name, based on its having been validly published at an earlier date.
   - Simple: The stronger claim a name has because it was published first.
   - _The 1843 description gives the earlier name priority over its later synonym._
   - _Taxonomists abandoned the newer name once its rival's priority was established._

## Origin

This word came from Old French "priorite", which came from Latin "priōritās". It can be broken down as "prior" plus the suffix "-ity".

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/priority (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).