prefer
Part of speech: verb
Morphological type: simple
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.
Inflected forms:
form: prefers
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: preferring
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: preferred
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: preferred
pos: verb
tags: past
form: præfer
pos: verb
tags: alternative
archaic
form: præferre
pos: verb
tags: alternative
obsolete
form: preferre
pos: verb
tags: alternative
obsolete
Senses:
gloss: To be in the habit of choosing something rather than something else; to favor; to like better.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: 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.
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,[…]
"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;[…]."
The February kid he should retain, also the full-grown goat; the goatling he should sell, also its kid, unless he prefers using it for the table. Thus he has not only a good supply of milk, but he has an early kid ready for next year, […]
Similar, if milder, versions of the same are reported in some (but not all) studies of humans, ranging from the Wellesley effect, discussed in the introduction, to heterosexual women preferring the smell of high-testosterone men.
You don’t attack politicians because you prefer them; you attack them because you’re scared of them.
gloss: To advance, promote (someone or something).
pos: verb
tags: dated
transitive
examples: 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[…].
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.
gloss: To present or submit (something) to an authority (now usually in "to prefer charges").
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: […], 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.
gloss: To put forward for acceptance; to introduce, recommend (to).
pos: verb
tags: obsolete
transitive
examples: 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,[…].
Related words: nonpreferred
preferable
preference
preferendum
preferential
preferer
preferment
preferrable
preferred creditor
preferred provider
preferred stock
preferred stockholder
preferrer
prelate
unpreferred
Derived words: preferability
preferee
preferist
Translations: