Talk:preferable
Latest comment: 2 years ago by Backinstadiums in topic "more preferable": double comparative
2. worthy to be preferred.
[edit]2. worthy to be preferred. --Backinstadiums (talk) 16:28, 21 March 2021 (UTC)
"more preferable": double comparative
[edit]Sometimes the double comparative form more preferable is used. The word more is of course unnecessary, since preferable by itself means ‘more desirable (than)’. Like other comparatives, it is therefore intensified by far, much, infinitely, etc.
Garner adds that this "inherently a comparative adjective takes to, not than". --Backinstadiums (talk) 15:11, 24 July 2021 (UTC)
Etymology
[edit]†preˈferrable, -ible, a. Obs.
[f. prefer + -able. preˈferrable follows the ordinary rule of English formations in -able: cf. barrable, regrettable. preˈferrible is partly conformed to the L. analogical form *præferibilis, which would give ˈpreferible: see -ble. Both have yielded to the French form ˈpreferable.]