prioritize

English

Alternative forms

• prioritise (British)

Etymology

From priority +‎ -ize. This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /pɹaɪˈɒɹətaɪz/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /pɹaɪˈɔːɹətaɪz/

Verb

prioritize (third-person singular simple present prioritizes, present participle prioritizing, simple past and past participle prioritized)

1. (transitive) To value, do, or choose something first, or before other things.
   • "When I don't have time to buy everything at the store, I prioritize fresh fruit and vegetables over foods like rice or noodles."
2. (transitive, intransitive) To arrange or list a group of things in order of priority or importance.
3. (transitive) To rank something as having high priority.

Antonyms

• marginalize

Derived terms

• reprioritize, reprioritise

Related terms

• prioritization

Translations

to arrange or list in order of priority or importance

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 優先考慮／优先考虑 (yōuxiān kǎolǜ)

• Czech: stanovit pořadí důležitosti, stanovit priority
• Esperanto: laŭprioritatigi (eo)
• Finnish: priorisoida (fi), asettaa/laittaa tärkeysjärjestykseen
• French: prioriser (fr)
• German: nach Wichtigkeit aufreihen, nach Wichtigkeit anordnen
• Greek: προτεραιοποιώ (el) (proteraiopoió)
• Italian: please add this translation if you can
• Maori: whakaarotau
• Portuguese: priorizar
• Russian: приоритизи́ровать (ru) (prioritizírovatʹ)
• Spanish: priorizar (es)
• Swedish: prioritera (sv)

to rank as having priority

• Catalan: prioritzar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 確定優先順序／确定优先顺序 (quèdìng yōuxiān shùnxù)

• Czech: upřednostňovat (cs)
• Esperanto: prioritatigi (eo)
• Finnish: priorisoida (fi)
• French: prioriser (fr)
• Galician: priorizar (gl)
• German: priorisieren (de), vorrangig behandeln, den Vorrang geben
• Greek: προτεραιοποιώ (el) (proteraiopoió)
• Italian: please add this translation if you can
• Japanese: 優先させる (ja) (ゆうせんさせる, yūsen saseru)
• Russian: приоритизи́ровать (ru) (prioritizírovatʹ)
• Spanish: priorizar (es)
• Swedish: prioritera (sv)

Further reading

• “prioritize”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “prioritize”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “prioritize”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.