favor
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈfeɪ.və/
ipa: /ˈfeɪ.vɚ/
rhymes: -eɪvə(ɹ)
Forms: form: favors
form: favoring
form: favored
form: favored
form: favour
Etymology: From Middle English favour, favor, faver, from Anglo-Norman favour, from mainland Old French favor, from Latin favor (“good will; kindness; partiality”), from faveō (“to be kind to”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂weh₁yeti (“to be favourable to”), from the root Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- (“to shine, glow light”). Respelled in American English to more closely match its Latin etymon. Compare also Danish favør (“favor”), Irish fabhar (“favor”), from the same Romance source.
Senses: examples: text: And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Luke 1:28:
text: Even in an era when individuality in dress is a cult, his clothes were noticeable. He was wearing a hard hat of the low round kind favoured by hunting men, and with it a black duffle-coat lined with white.
ref: 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 6, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
glosses: To look upon fondly; to prefer.
examples: text: […] alone, without having to favor his right, uninjured leg, […]
ref: 2007, Bert Casper, Shadow Upon the Dream: Book 1: Barrûn, page 537:
glosses: To use more often.
examples: text: These [boys being groomed as prostitutes] are sold by their parents (sometimes stolen from them), about the age of 4, and educated, while they are also subjected to a special physical training, which includes massage of the gluteal regions to favor development, dilatation of the anus, and epilation (which is not, however, practised by Chinese women).
ref: 1927, Havelock Ellis, Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 2 (of 6):
glosses: To encourage, conduce to
examples: text: Would you favor us with a poetry reading?
glosses: To do a favor [noun sense 1] for; to show beneficence toward.
examples: text: ‘Mandy?’ he said, and stared at the girl. ‘Don't favor her too much.’ ‘Favors her dad,’ Latha said, and looked at him.
ref: 1970, Donald Harington, Lightning Bug:
text: […] chamomile and apples? Those particular smellalikes tested our imagination. Yet much of what he said was right on the mark. The scent of sweet peas, for instance, does indeed favor that of wisteria.
ref: 1989, Rayford Clayton Reddell, Robert Galyean, Growing Fragrant Plants, page 13:
text: The way things repeat themselves, across time — not just in the replications and recombinations of family and place ("He favors his momma, she favors her daddy"), but in the accretion of like patterns […]
ref: 2012, Rick Bass, A Thousand Deer: Four Generations of Hunting and the Hill Country, →ISBN, page 63:
qualifier: including Southern US and Cajun
glosses: To resemble; especially, to look like (another person).
raw_tags: in dialects
Synonyms: word: abet
word: assist
word: endorse
word: favoritize
word: favourite
word: sanction
Derived terms: favorable
favourable
favored
favoured
favorer
favourer
favorise
favorite
favourite
favoritism
favouritism
misfavor
overfavor