Proffering

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Presenting or holding out something to another person for acceptance or consideration
2. Extending an item or proposal to someone as a possible gift or option
3. Offering something forward to be received, accepted, or examined by someone else

Etymology: The verb "proffer" comes from Old French "proferir" and "proffrir", which meant "to offer, propose" or "to volunteer". Its ancestry is a compound: "por-", an intensifying prefix meaning roughly "through" or "forth", joined to "offrir", "to offer". Beneath that lies Latin "offerre", built from "ob-" ("towards") and "ferre" ("to bear, carry"). So at its root, offering is a kind of carrying something toward another person. English borrowed the verb in the Middle English period, when it could mean much more than a polite presentation: writers used it to mean "to challenge", "to risk", or "to attempt". Those older senses have largely faded, and the modern sense of holding out something as a gift or option has narrowed to the gentler act we now associate with it. The present participle "proffering" is simply the verb's -ing form, describing the ongoing act of holding out a gift or proposal.

Synonyms: offering, presenting, providing, suggesting, submitting

Antonyms: withholding, refusing, denying, rejecting, taking