prefer
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Contents |
[edit] English
[edit] Alternative forms
[edit] Etymology
From Anglo-Norman, Middle French preferer, (French préférer), from Latin praeferō.
[edit] Pronunciation
[edit] Verb
prefer (third-person singular simple present prefers, present participle preferring, simple past and past participle preferred)
- (transitive, now dated) To advance, promote (someone). [from 14th c.]
- 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, II.3.2:
- Tiberius preferred many to honours in his time, because they were famous whoremasters and sturdy drinkers [...].
- 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, II.3.2:
- (transitive) To be in the habit of choosing something rather than something else; to favor; to like better. [from 14th c.]
- I prefer tea to coffee.
- (transitive) To present or submit (something) to an authority (now usually in "to prefer charges"). [from 16th c.]
- (obsolete, transitive) To put forward for acceptance; to introduce, recommend (to). [16th-19th c.]
- 1630, John Smith, True Travels, in Kupperman 1988, p. 36:
- one Master David Hume, who making some use of his purse, gave him Letters to his friends in Scotland to preferre him to King James.
- 1817, Walter Scott, Rob Roy, XVII:
- Such were the arguments which my will boldly preferred to my conscience, as coin which ought to be current, and which conscience, like a grumbling shopkeeper, was contented to accept [...].
- 1630, John Smith, True Travels, in Kupperman 1988, p. 36:
[edit] Usage notes
- Prepositions: Used in "prefer A to B" and "prefer A over B".
[edit] Translations
to favor
|
|
