Pri*or"i*ty (?), n. [Cf.
F. priorité. 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; preëminence.
Hear it pronounced