priority

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /praɪˈɒr.ə.ti/, /praɪˈɒr.ɪ.ti/, US /praɪˈɔːr.ə.t̬i/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English prioritie, borrowed from Old French priorite and directly from Medieval Latin prioritas (“the fact of being prior”),^[2][3][4] from Latin prior (“former”).^[2][3] It is related to prior.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The state of being earlier, prior existence: 1387–88 in the OED, the late 14th century in Etymonline.^[5][2]

Semantic evolution

Precedence in right, place or rank is from about 1400.^[2][5] Wycliffe rendered Latin prioritas into English as furtherhead.^[2] A precedence among claims, as in the order of payment, is from 1523.^[5] In 1897 the Century Dictionary still said that priority meant chiefly coming first in time, but in the 20th century the sense shifted to coming first in importance or needing immediate attention, and to a thing regarded as more important than others.^[2]

Timeline

• 1387–88 – being earlier.^[5]
• c. 1400 – precedence in rank.^[5][2]
• 1523 – precedence of claims.^[5]
• 20th century – first in importance.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Something that is more important than other things and must be dealt with first.
2. The right to be dealt with before others; precedence.
3. The fact of coming earlier in time.

Word family

• nonpriority
• prioritize
• aperture-priority

Related words

• prior

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press