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Etymology and origin of the Spanish word favor

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1234 a document of Teobaldo I's diplomatic collection, as fabor More words from the 13th century
Borrowed from
Latin favor
Ultimate origin
Latin faveō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin faveō
Latin favor
Italian favore
Spanish favor
From the same root
Latin faustus ← faveō
Latin fautor ← faveō
Latin favōrābilis ← favor

Pronunciation

  • /faˈboɾ/, [faˈβ̞oɾ][1]

Forms

favor m (plural favores)[1] Old Spanish wrote fabor, fauor and ffauor.[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin favor (“goodwill, favour; applause”), a learned word, derived from faveō (“to be favourably inclined, approve”).[4][5][6][1][7] The origin of the Latin verb is uncertain: de Vaan reports Schrijver's derivation from a root meaning “worship”, which Lubotsky rejects in favour of the root of “be, become”, and Wiktionary names Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- (“to be, become”) as one possibility.[8][1]

It is also Portuguese favor, recorded from the 15th century, Catalan favor, from the 14th, and Italian favore.[9][10][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

DEMel's first record is a document of 1234 in the diplomatic collection of Teobaldo I, with the spelling fabor.[2] An exchange charter of 1284 has es en ffauor de la Ordene “is in favour of the Order”.[3] Corominas dates the word to the 15th century, to the Corbacho (1438), Mena and Santillana.[4][5]

Semantic evolution

Alonso de Palencia defined faveo as “to give favour to another”, and Nebrija, Covarrubias and the Autoridades all have the word.[4] The Autoridades defines it as help, protection and patronage, as an honour or grace granted, and as the expression of pleasure that ladies show; one of its examples has con el favor de la noche “under cover of night”.[11] Baralt nevertheless condemned a favor de la noche as a gallicism.[12]

The 1817 dictionary adds the ribbon or flower that a lady gave to a knight, who wore it on his hat or arm at public festivities, and the cry ¡favor a la justicia! with which officers called for help in an arrest.[13] Privanza, the favour of a king or great man, is in the 1869 edition.[14] In Colombia the word came to mean a ribbon bow, and in Mexico favor de with an infinitive, short for hágame el favor de, is used as a polite request, first in telegrams.[15][16][17] In the plural it is also a euphemism for a woman's consent to a love affair.[18][19]

Timeline

  • 1234 – fabor in a document of Teobaldo I's diplomatic collection.[2]
  • 1284 – en ffauor de in an exchange charter.[3]
  • 1438 – the Corbacho uses favor and favorecer; this is the first record in the DCECH and BDELC.[4][5]
  • 1531 – first record from the Americas, in Mexico City, in en favor del dicho Marqués.[20]
  • 1732 – the Autoridades defines it as help, honour and a lady's sign of favour.[11]
  • 1817 – the Academy's dictionary adds the lady's ribbon and the phrase a favor “for the benefit of”.[13]
  • 1884 – the Academy's dictionary gives the etymology “from Latin favor”.[21]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Help or a service given to someone; a favour: ¿Me haces un favor y cierras la puerta?[6][19][1]
  2. An honour, benefit or grace.[6]
  3. The favour of a powerful person; privanza: Perdió el favor del rey.[6][19]
  4. (in the plural, euphemistic) A woman's consent to a love affair.[19][18]
  5. (historical) An expression of pleasure shown by a lady.[6]
  6. (historical) A ribbon, flower or similar token given by a lady to a knight, who wore it on his hat or arm at public festivities.[6]
  7. (Colombia) A ribbon bow.[22][18]

Word family

  • favorecer
  • desfavorecer
  • disfavor
  • por favor
  • a favor
  • favorable
  • favorito
  • fausto
  • Latin favor

Usage notes

A favor de means “for the benefit of” or “helped by” (a favor del viento), and votar a favor “to vote in favour”.[6] Por favor is “please”.[1] In much of Latin America favor de with an infinitive makes a polite request.[23]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. favor
  3. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE
  4. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 875
  5. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. favor
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. favor
  7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  9. ^ Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon
  10. ^ Coromines, Joan (1980–2001), Diccionari etimològic i complementari de la llengua catalana, 10 vols., Barcelona: Curial / La Caixa (online ed., Institut d'Estudis Catalans 2024), p. 3, 917
  11. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 3, 727
  12. ^ Baralt, Rafael María (1855), Diccionario de galicismos, Madrid: Imprenta de J. Cruzado, p. 305
  13. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real
  14. ^ Real Academia Española (1869), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 11th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de Don Manuel Rivadeneyra, p. 355
  15. ^ Alemany y Bolufer, José (1917), Diccionario de la lengua española, Barcelona: Ramón Sopena, p. 762
  16. ^ Santamaría, Francisco J. (1942), Diccionario general de americanismos, 3 vols., México: Pedro Robredo, p. 637
  17. ^ García Icazbalceta, Joaquín (1899), Vocabulario de mexicanismos comprobado con ejemplos y comparado con los de otros países hispano-americanos, México: La Europea
  18. ^ a b c Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial
  19. ^ a b c d Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos
  20. ^ Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies
  21. ^ Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 490
  22. ^ Malaret, Augusto (1946), Diccionario de americanismos, 3rd ed., Buenos Aires: Emecé, p. 412
  23. ^ Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Favor.” Etymologically, 7 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/es/favor. Accessed 7 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·