preferential

Etymology

It is from Medieval Latin praeferentia (“preference”) with the suffix -al,^[2][3][4][5] the Medieval Latin noun being formed from praeferēns, the present participle of praeferō (“to place before, prefer”),^[2][5] from prae- (“before”) and ferō (“to carry, bear”).^[5] The Oxford Dictionary of English and the Shorter Oxford instead take it from preference on the pattern of differential.^[6][7] The OED compares the earlier adjective preferent.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of or involving preference; showing partiality, or amounting to a favour or privilege: 1754, in a translation of Plumard de Dangeul's remarks on France and Great Britain.^[2][3] Etymonline dates the word to 1805,^[5] and Dictionary.com and the Shorter Oxford to the mid 19th century.^[8][7]

Semantic evolution

In economics it described import duties that favour particular countries (1843), and in politics a way of voting in which the voter ranks candidates in order of preference (1870), especially the alternative vote.^[2] Anthropologists used it from 1895 for marriage between kin of a kind favoured within a group, and scientists from 1913 in the sense "preferred".^[2] A preferential creditor is one whose claim is paid before those of other creditors.^[9][2] The noun, a person or thing treated preferentially such as a privileged creditor or a preferential tariff rate, is recorded from 1903.^[2]

Timeline

• 1754 – of or involving preference; constituting a favour or privilege.^[2][3]
• 1843 – of import duties that favour particular countries.^[2]
• 1870 – of a vote or ballot in which candidates are ranked in order of preference.^[2]
• 1895 – in anthropology, of marriage between kin of a favoured relationship.^[2]
• 1903 – noun, a person or thing treated preferentially.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Showing, giving or resulting from preference; offering an advantage to some over others: Board members are not entitled to preferential seating at the concert.^[3][10][2]
2. Of or relating to a preference in trade, especially tariffs that favour particular countries.^[3][10][2]
3. Of a creditor: having a claim that is repaid before those of other creditors.^[9][2]
4. Of voting: in which the voter ranks the candidates in order of preference.^[2]

Word family

• preferentialism
• preferentialist
• preferentially
• nonpreferential
• preferential voting

Related words

• preference
• prefer
• preferent
• differential

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
5. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
9. ^ a b Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins