precedence
/ˈpɹɛsɪd(ə)ns/noun
precedence is spelled P-R-E-C-E-D-E-N-C-E: 10 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 2.1 times per million words in written English, the 18,811th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “precedence vs precedent” about 1,300 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, precedence means “The state of preceding in importance or priority” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of precedence is precedences.
How many letters and syllables are in precedence?
| Letters | 10: P-R-E-C-E-D-E-N-C-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.1 times per million words; the 18,811th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How common is precedence?
Precedence appears 2.1 times per million words in written English, the 18,811th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce precedence?
- /ˈpɹɛsɪd(ə)ns/
- /pɹɪˈsiːd(ə)ns/
- Australia /ˈpɹiːsɪd(ə)ns/
Precedence has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-precedence.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with precedence
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of precedence
- precedences plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does precedence mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The state of preceding in importance or priority.
Family takes precedence over work, in an emergency.
- 2
Precedent.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Precedence in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense the state of preceding in importance or priority:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | préséance |
| German | Vorrang |
| Portuguese | precedência |
| Spanish | prioridad, precedencia |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does precedence come from?
From Middle French précédence (“the state of preceding, anteriority”). Morphologically precede + -ence.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).