noun (n)

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

  Example:
  National independence takes priority over class struggle.
  

  Synonym:
  precedence, precedency
  

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

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

  source: wordnet30
• The quality or state of being prior or antecedent in time, or of preceding something else; as, priority of application.(noun)

  source: webster1913