noun (n)

• status established in order of importance or urgency(noun.state)

  Example:
  ...its precedence as the world's leading manufacturer of pharmaceuticals.
  

  Synonym:
  precedency, priority
  

  source: wordnet30
• preceding in time(noun.attribute)

  Synonym:
  antecedence, antecedency, anteriority, precedency, priority
  Antonym:
  posteriority, subsequence, subsequentness
  

  source: wordnet30
• the act of preceding in time or order or rank (as in a ceremony)(noun.act)

  Synonym:
  precedency, precession
  

  source: wordnet30
• The act or state of preceding or going before in order of time; priority; as, one event has precedence of another.(noun)

  source: webster1913