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Etymology and origin of the Portuguese word favor

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1300s spelt ffavor More words from the 14th century
Borrowed from
Latin favor
Ultimate origin
Latin faveō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin faveō
Latin favor
French faveur
Romanian favoare
Italian favore
Portuguese favor
Spanish favor
From the same root
Latin faustus ← faveō
Latin fautor ← faveō
Latin favōrābilis ← favor

Pronunciation

  • Brazil: /faˈvoʁ/, [faˈvoh][1]
  • São-Paulo: /faˈvoɾ/[1]
  • Rio-de-Janeiro: /faˈvoʁ/, [faˈvoχ][1]
  • Caipira: /faˈvoɻ/[1]

Forms

favor m (plural favores)[1] Houaiss records the spelling ffavor in the 14th century and favor from the 15th.[2] The vowel of the last syllable is closed, /ô/.[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin favor (“goodwill, favour, support”), a learned word.[2][4][5][1] The Latin noun is formed from faveō (“to be favourably inclined, to approve”) with the suffix -or.[6][1]

Its Spanish counterpart favor, also taken from Latin, is first recorded in 1438.[7] The same Latin word is Galician favor, Catalan favor and Italian favore.[1]

The origin of the Latin verb is uncertain.[8][1] De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *fawē- and favours a root meaning “to be favourable to”, comparing Old Irish báe (“profit, benefit”);[8] Schrijver had proposed a root meaning “to heed, worship”, which Lubotsky and de Vaan do not find compelling.[8] Wiktionary gives both explanations.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss dates the word to the 14th century, spelt ffavor, from Cunha's slips of medieval Portuguese;[2][4] Cunha's own dictionary gives the 15th century, with the senses “interest, protection, benefit, kindness”.[2][4] A private letter of 1538 already has favor.[9]

Semantic evolution

The early dictionaries give favor as a kindness or grace done to someone: Barbosa (1611) glosses it with Latin favor and studium, and Bluteau calls it a mercy done to someone and records por favor “as a favour” and a favor de “on behalf of”.[10][11] Folqman (1755) adds o favor do povo “popular favour” and cartas de favor “letters of recommendation”.[12] Morais (1789) defines it as a good deed done not from duty but from kindness, and records the favours a lady grants, demonstrações de amor.[13]

Figueiredo (1899) and Silva Bastos (1912) list a familiar sense “letter”, which Houaiss and the Porto dictionary still give, the latter as a business letter.[14][15][2][16] The word passed into Macanese as favôr and into Nheengatu as faúru.[1]

Timeline

  • 14th century – the spelling ffavor.[2]
  • 15th century – the spelling favor;[2][4] Cunha's first record, with favorecer and favorável.[2][4]
  • 1538 – favor in a private letter.[9]
  • 1611 – Barbosa's dictionary glosses Favor with Latin favor and studium.[10]
  • 1712 – Bluteau records por favor and a favor de.[11]
  • 1755 – Folqman lists cartas de favor.[12]
  • 1789 – Morais records conceder os últimos favores, of a lady's love.[13]
  • 1881 – first records of favorita and favoritismo.[4]
  • 1899 – Figueiredo lists the familiar sense “letter”.[14]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A favour, something done for someone freely, without obligation: Pediu-me o favor de lhe regar as plantas.[2][3][1]
  2. grace, mercy, indulgence: o favor divino.[2][3]
  3. Benefit, advantage: chiefly in a favor de and em favor de “for, on behalf of; in favour of”.[2][3][1]
  4. goodwill, sympathy won from someone or from the public: Ganhou depressa o favor dos leitores.[2][3][1]
  5. Protection, patronage, support.[3][17]
  6. An advantage owed to preference or influence; partiality.[2][3][16]
  7. A favourable condition: a favor do vento.[3][14]
  8. A sign of a woman's preference or love for a man.[18][13]
  9. (dated) A letter, especially a business letter.[2][16][17]

Adverb

  1. (before an infinitive, on notices) please: Favor fechar a porta.[1]

Word family

  • desfavor
  • favorecer
  • desfavorecer
  • favorizar
  • favorável
  • favoravelmente
  • favorecedor
  • favorecido
  • favorecimento
  • favorita
  • favoritismo
  • favorito
  • desfavorável
  • Latin faveō
  • Spanish favor

Usage notes

Por favor is the usual polite formula for “please”, said when asking for something or accepting an offer.[19][20][1] Faz favor and fazer o favor de + infinitive serve the same purpose.[19] De favor means “free of charge, out of kindness”, and in Rio Grande do Sul also “living on someone's help”.[21][20]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. favor
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. favor
  4. ^ a b c d e f Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. favor
  5. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. favor
  6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. favor
  7. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. favor
  8. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  9. ^ a b CLUL (ed.) (2014), P.S. Post Scriptum: Arquivo Digital de Escrita Quotidiana em Portugal e Espanha na Época Moderna, Lisboa: Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, http://ps.clul.ul.pt, p. s.v. favor
  10. ^ a b Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. favor
  11. ^ a b Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. favor
  12. ^ a b Folqman, Carlos (1755), Diccionario portuguez, e latino, Lisboa: Régia Officina Silviana (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. favor
  13. ^ a b c Silva, António de Morais (1789), Diccionario da lingua portugueza composto pelo padre D. Rafael Bluteau, reformado, e accrescentado, 2 vols., Lisboa: Simão Thaddeo Ferreira, p. 1, 601
  14. ^ a b c Figueiredo, Cândido de (1899), Novo diccionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Tavares Cardoso & Irmão, p. s.v. favor
  15. ^ Silva Bastos, José Timóteo da (1912), Diccionario etymologico, prosodico e orthographico da lingua portugueza, Lisboa: Parceria António Maria Pereira, p. s.v. favor
  16. ^ a b c Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 4213
  17. ^ a b Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. favor
  18. ^ Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, revised online edition (2023–) of the Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa Contemporânea (2001), https://dicionario.acad-ciencias.pt, p. s.v. favor
  19. ^ a b Aulete, Francisco Júlio Caldas, Dicionário contemporâneo da língua portuguesa (1st ed. 1881), online as Aulete Digital, Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, https://aulete.com.br, p. s.v. favor
  20. ^ a b Schlee, Aldyr Garcia (2019), Dicionário da Cultura Pampeana Sul-Rio-Grandense, 2 vols., Pelotas: Fructos do Paiz, p. s.v. favor
  21. ^ Michaelis: Moderno Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, São Paulo: Melhoramentos (online as Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa, https://michaelis.uol.com.br), p. s.v. favor

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Favor.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/pt/favor. Accessed 16 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·