seniority

From Middle English senyoryte, from Medieval Latin senioritas, from Latin senior (“elder”).

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /siːnɪˈɒɹɪti/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /sinˈjɔɹɪti/
• Rhymes: -ɒɹɪti
• Hyphenation: se‧nior‧i‧ty

seniority (countable and uncountable, plural seniorities)

1. A measure of the amount of time a person has been a member of an organization, as compared to other members, and with an eye towards awarding privileges to those who have been members longer.

   Synonyms: anciennity, eldership

   It's an old-fashioned company, with parking spaces and other perks doled out on the basis of seniority.

• senate
• senator
• senior

• “seniority”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “seniority”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.