prefer

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /prɪˈfɜː/, US /prəˈfɝː/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English preferren,^[2][3] borrowed from Old French preferer (14th century),^[2][3][4] and directly from Latin praeferre (“to carry in front, place before, prefer”),^[2][3][4] from prae “before” and ferre “to carry, bear”,^[2][3][5] from Proto-Indo-European *bher- (“to carry”).^[2] It is related to bear, refer and offer.^[3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

To put forward or advance in rank or fortune, to promote: 1388 in the OED,^[6] before 1393 in Barnhart, in Gower's Confessio Amantis, where it also means “to like better”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The meaning “to value one thing more than others, set before others in liking” is also from the late 14th century,^[2][7] and it is now the usual sense;^[2] the older sense, promotion, survives in preferment.^[2] To put something before someone for acceptance, and in law to bring forward a charge, as in prefer charges, is from 1573.^[6][8] To advance oneself, to further a result, and to set in front are obsolete.^[6] Preference first meant advancement (1456),^[3] preferable is from 1648,^[3] and preferably from 1729.^[3]

Timeline

• 1388 – to promote in rank.^[6]
• a. 1393 – to like better.^[3]
• 1456 – preference, advancement.^[3]
• 1573 – to put forward for consideration.^[6]
• 1648 – preferable.^[3]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To like or choose one thing rather than another.
2. (law) To bring a charge before a court.
3. (law) To give priority to a creditor.
4. (archaic) To promote or advance in rank.

Word family

• preferrer
• preferredness

Related words

• preferable
• preference
• preferential
• preferment
• preferred provider
• preferred stock
• unpreferred
• bear
• refer
• offer
• confer

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin