Preferring

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The action of selecting one choice rather than various others
2. The preference for one option above all others in decision-making
3. The act of picking a single choice instead of the rest when making a decision

Etymology: The verb "prefer" carries a literal sense of "carrying before" in its Latin ancestor. Latin "praeferre" combined "prae," meaning "before," with "ferre," meaning "to carry" or "to bring." To carry something forward in front of others was to set it above them, and that physical image of placing one thing ahead of the rest gradually became the abstract idea of choosing one thing over several. The word reached English through Anglo-Norman "preferer" and then Middle English "preferren." Its arrival displaced the native Old English words "foresettan" and "foreberan," which carried similar ideas of setting or bearing before. Modern English has a close relative in "prelate," a doublet that came from the same Latin source by a different route, where the sense of being placed above others took on an ecclesiastical meaning. "Preferring" is the present participle of this verb, so it describes the ongoing act of making that choice, as in favouring one option over the alternatives.

Synonyms: favoring, choosing, selecting, prioritizing, inclining

Antonyms: disfavoring, rejecting, dismissing