Firstly vs Priority - What's the difference?
firstly | priority |
(formal) In the first place; before anything else; first.
*
English sequence adverbs
An item's relative importance.
A goal of a person or an organisation.
(taxonomy, of a name) A superior claim to use by virtue of being validly published at an earlier date.
*
(obsolete) Precedence; superior rank.
* 1608 , , I. i. 244:
As an adverb firstly
is in the first place; before anything else; first.As a noun priority is
an item's relative importance.firstly
English
Adverb
(-)- Firstly , I continue to base most species treatments on personally collected material, rather than on herbarium plants. Secondly, I continue to base my concepts on intensive study of a limited suite of collections, rather than superficial study of every packet that comes to hand.
Usage notes
* Whether it is proper to use "firstly", rather than "first", has often been disputed. ** Beginning in the early 19th century with de Quincey, who erroneously believed that "firstly" was a neologism, some have argued against the use of "firstly", advocating the sequence: "First", "secondly", "thirdly", .... ** The usage of "firstly" is also deprecated by some modern style guides.International English UsageThe Chicago Manual of Style further recommends that all such -ly forms be avoided, and that list items begin only with "first", "second", and so forth. ** Other authorities disagree. *** The American Heritage Dictionary comments: ***: It is well established that either first'' or ''firstly'' can be used to begin an enumeration: ''Our objectives are, first'' (or ''firstly''), ''to recover from last year's slump. *** The Oxford English Dictionary'' notes the dispute but does not pass judgment: "many writers prefer ''first'', even though closely followed by ''secondly'', ''thirdly'', etc."
"Firstly" in the ''Oxford English Dictionary, online edition (subscription required) ** "Firstly" may appear more formal than "first" and is often recommended for the formal enumeration of arguments.
Writing in a Formal Style for Academic Purposes
Synonyms
* first * first of all * first upReferences
priority
English
(wikipedia priority)Noun
(priorities)- He set his e-mail message's priority to high.
- She needs to get her priorities straight and stop playing games.
- Neither [Jones] nor I (in 1966) could conceive of reducing our "science" to the ultimate absurdity of reading Finnish newspapers almost a century and a half old in order to establish "priority ."
- Follow Cominius. We must follow you. / Right worthy you priority.