Precedence

How to spell precedence

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce precedence

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does precedence mean?

1. nounThe condition of being considered more important than something else, and therefore dealt with or ranked first.

Precedence in a sentence

• Safety concerns must always take precedence over deadlines.

• In the seating plan, senior guests are given precedence near the host.

Where does precedence come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin verb praecedere, meaning 'to go before' or 'to come first', formed from prae 'before' and cedere 'to go' or 'to yield'. The same cedere root quietly powers a whole family of English words, including 'proceed', 'recede', 'concede' and 'exceed', so the spelling 'ced' in the middle is the recurring signpost for 'go'. English took 'precedence' in the fifteenth century to mean the act of going before, and from there it settled into the sense of priority in order or rank. In court ceremony and protocol it came to describe who literally walks ahead of whom, which is why questions of social or diplomatic standing were once called matters of precedence. The trap in spelling is the soft middle 'c', which sounds like an 's', and the ending '-ence' rather than '-ents', which makes it easy to confuse with the plural 'precedents'.

How the word is built

• pre- (before)
• ced (go, from Latin cedere)
• -ence (noun-forming suffix)