prefer

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English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Middle English preferren, from Anglo-Norman preferer, from Latin praeferō. Displaced native Old English foresettan and foreberan.

Pronunciation

Verb

prefer (third-person singular simple present prefers, present participle preferring, simple past and past participle preferred)

  1. (transitive) 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.
    • c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , page 15, column 2:
      You that will be leſſe fearefull, then diſcreet,
      That loue the fundamentall part of State
      More then you doubt the change on’t: That preferre
      A Noble life, before a Long, […]
    • 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter VIII, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:
      "My tastes," he said, still smiling, "incline me to the garishly sunlit side of this planet." And, to tease her and arouse her to combat: "I prefer a farandole to a nocturne; I'd rather have a painting than an etching; Mr. Whistler bores me with his monochromatic mud; I don't like dull colours, dull sounds, dull intellects; […]."
    • 2019 February 26, James Graham, Adam Johnson, “The Return of the Inexplicable Republican Best Friend”, in FAIR.org:
      You don’t attack politicians because you prefer them; you attack them because you’re scared of them.
  2. (transitive, now dated) To advance, promote (someone or something).
    • c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , page 318, column 2:
      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.
    • 1611, The Holy Bible,  (King James Version), London: Robert Barker, , →OCLC, Esther 2:9, column 2:
      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.
    • 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: , 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed by John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition II, section 3, member 2:
      Tiberius preferred many to honours in his time, because they were famous whoremasters and sturdy drinkers […].
    • 1743, Robert Drury, The Pleasant, and Surprizing Adventures of Mr. Robert Drury, during his Fifteen Years Captivity on the Island of Madagascar‎, London, page 67:
      […] she was one of my Master’s Captives. For this Reason, I presume, it was, that she took so much Compassion upon me; considering herself a Slave in a strange Country, and only preferr’d to my Master’s Bed by Courtesy.
  3. (transitive) To present or submit (something) to an authority (now usually in "to prefer charges").
    • 1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , page 118, column 2:
       […], let him go,
      And preſently preferre his ſuite to Cæſar.
    • 1803, Robert Charles Dallas, The History of the Maroons‎, London: Longman and Rees, Volume 1, Letter 5, p. 137:
      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. (obsolete, transitive) To put forward for acceptance; to introduce, recommend (to).
    • 1630, John Smith, chapter 1, in The True Travels, Adventures, and Observations of Captaine Iohn Smith‎, London: Thomas Slater, page 2:
      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.
    • 1817 December 31 (indicated as 1818), [Walter Scott], chapter IV, in Rob Roy. , volume II, Edinburgh: James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co. ; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC, page 68:
      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, […].

Usage notes

  • The verb can be used in three different forms:
    1. prefer + noun + to (or over) + noun. Example: I prefer coffee to tea.
    2. prefer + gerund + to (or over) + gerund. Example: I prefer skiing to swimming.
    3. prefer + full infinitive + rather than + bare infinitive. Example: I prefer to die honorably rather than live in shame. If the second verb is the same as the first, it can be elided: I prefer to eat fish rather than meat.

Synonyms

Antonyms

Related terms

Translations

Chinese

Etymology

From English prefer.

Pronunciation

Verb

prefer

  1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) to prefer (to favor)

Romanian

Pronunciation

Verb

prefer

  1. first-person singular present indicative/subjunctive of prefera
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