Prefers

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To display a stronger inclination for one option compared to others
2. To demonstrate a greater affinity for a specific choice rather than alternatives
3. Indicates a tendency to choose one thing over others based on liking it more

Etymology: "Prefers" is the third-person singular form of "prefer," so its story is really the story of the verb. The root is Latin "praeferre," literally "to carry before" or "to bring forward," built from "prae" ("before") and "ferre" ("to carry"). The same "ferre" sits behind "refer," "infer," "defer," and "confer," which is why these words share a family resemblance: each is a verb of carrying in a different direction. The verb passed into Middle English as "preferren," coming through Anglo-Norman "preferer." Its older sense was physical or formal: to put someone forward, to advance a person to a position, or to set one thing ahead of another in rank. English already had native words for this idea, Old English "foresettan" and "foreberan," but "prefer" displaced them. The notion of choosing one thing over another grew naturally out of this older sense of placing one thing before another. "Prelate," a senior churchman, is a doublet of "prefer," meaning the two words descend from the same Latin root but reached English by different routes.

Synonyms: likes, favors, chooses, selects, opts for

Antonyms: dislikes, rejects, detests, abominates, spurns