elsobbség

Elsőbbség is a Hungarian noun meaning priority or precedence. It is built from the word első, meaning first, with the suffix -bbség, which marks a state or condition. The term describes the status of having precedence in a given situation, whether it concerns rights, ordering, or preferential treatment. In non-accented texts, it may appear as elsobbség.

The concept is used across several contexts. In road traffic, elsőbbség refers to the right of way at intersections and similar situations, determining which vehicle may proceed first and which must yield. In everyday life and organizational settings, people, items, or tasks can be given elsőbbség, meaning they are served or processed before others. For example, in queues or service lines, individuals with elsőbbséget élveznek are attended to first. The term also appears in scheduling and administrative procedures to denote that certain actions or decisions take precedence over others.

In modern Hungarian, the term prioritás is often used as a more technical or formal synonym, especially in business, project management, or policy contexts. Nevertheless, elsőbbség remains common in everyday language and in descriptions of concrete, situational precedence. The nuance of elsőbbség is typically tied to an explicit ordering in a given moment, while prioritás can convey a broader, longer-term importance.

See also: priority, precedence, right of way.