Learner's definition of PRECEDENCE
the condition of being more important than something or someone else and therefore coming or being dealt with first
The guests were introduced in order of precedence. [=the most important guests were introduced first]
The safety of the children has/takes precedence over [=is more important than] everything else.
Many small businesses complain that the government's policies give precedence to large corporations. [=treat large corporations as more important]