noun ·Uncommon ·College level

Definitions

Noun

1. 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. countable, uncountable

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

2. 2
   the property of being long-lived wordnet
3. 3
   higher rank than that of others especially by reason of longer service wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

eldershipaboriginalityaccomplishmentageancien regimeanciennity

Antonyms

All antonyms

juniority

Example

More examples

"In Japan wages are usually in proportion to seniority."

Etymology

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

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.