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Webster 1913 Edition

{

, }

Noun.

[Cf. F.

précédence

. See

The act or state of preceding or going before in order of time; priority;

as, one event has

precedence

of another

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

Which of them [the different desires] has the

precedency

in determining the will to the next action?

Locke.

Syn. – Antecedence; priority; preëminence; preference; superiority.

precedency ‎(plural precedencies)

Precedence; superiority.
- 1603, John Florio, translating Michel de Montaigne, Essayes, London: Edward Blount, OCLC 946730821, II.12:
  Archimedes master of this Science, and who in truth and certaintie assumeth unto himselfe a precedencie above all others, saith, the Sunne is a God of enflamed yron.
(obsolete) The fact of serving as a precedent.