'prioritize' originates from the word 'priority', which comes from the Latin word 'prioritas', where 'prior' meant 'former' or 'first'.

'prioritas' transformed into the Old French word 'priorité', and eventually became the modern English word 'priority', from which 'prioritize' was derived.

Initially, it meant 'to make something a priority', and this meaning has largely remained the same in modern usage.