prefer

verb
/pɹɪˈfɝ/US/pɹɪˈfɜː/UK/pɹɪˈfəː//pɹɪˈfɚ(ɹ)/CA

Etymology

From Middle English preferren, from Anglo-Norman preferer, from Latin praeferō. Displaced native Old English foresettan and foreberan. Doublet of prelate. See also infer, relate and refer, delate and defer, as well as collate and confer among others.

  1. derived from praeferō
  2. derived from preferer
  3. inherited from preferren

Definitions

  1. To be in the habit of choosing something rather than something else

    To be in the habit of choosing something rather than something else; to favor; to like better.

    • I prefer tea to coffee.
    • I'd prefer it if you didn't do it.
    • I'd prefer to stay home rather than drive/driving in the blizzard.
  2. To advance, promote (someone or something).

    • So ſhall you haue a ſhorter iourney to your deſires, by the meanes I ſhall then haue to preferre them. And the impediment moſt profitably remoued, without the which there were no expectation of our proſperitie.
    • And the maiden pleaſed him, and ſhe obtained kindneſſe of him,[…], and hee preferred her and her maids, vnto the beſt place of the houſe of the women.
    • Tiberius preferred many to honours in his time, because they were famous whoremasters and sturdy drinkers[…].
  3. To present or submit (something) to an authority (now usually in "to prefer charges").

    • […], let him go, And preſently preferre his ſuite to Cæſar.
    • At length the Maroons, who were delighted to have him with them, became diſ­con­tent­ed with his abſence, and for ſeveral years, during the ſeſſions of the Houſe of Aſſembly, preferred repeated complaints againſt him.
  4. + 1 more definition
    1. To put forward for acceptance

      To put forward for acceptance; to introduce, recommend (to).

      • one Master David Hume, who making some use of his purse, gave him Letters to his friends in Scotland to preferre him to King Iames.
      • 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,[…].

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at prefer. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01prefer02choosing03choose04choice05preference06preferred07preferre

A definitional loop anchored at prefer. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

7 hops · closes at prefer

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA