English Online Dictionary. What means favor? What does favor mean?
English
Alternative forms
- favour (Commonwealth, Ireland)
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.
Pronunciation
- (US) IPA(key): /ˈfeɪvɚ/
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈfeɪvə/
- Rhymes: -eɪvə(ɹ)
- Hyphenation: fa‧vor
Noun
favor (countable and uncountable, plural favors) (American spelling, alternative in Canada)
- A kind or helpful deed; an instance of voluntarily assisting (someone).
- Goodwill; benevolent regard.
- A small gift; a party favor.
- Mildness or mitigation of punishment; lenity.
- The object of regard; person or thing favoured.
- (obsolete) Appearance; look; countenance; face.
- (law) Partiality; bias
- (archaic) A letter, a written communication.
- (obsolete) Anything worn publicly as a pledge of a woman's favor.
- (historical) A ribbon or similar small item that is worn as an adornment, especially in celebration of an event.
Usage notes
- Favor is the standard US spelling, and an alternative in Canada. Favour is the standard spelling in Canada and outside North America.
- English speakers usually "do someone a favor" (rather than *"make them a favor", which would be sense 3 only). See Appendix:Collocations of do, have, make, and take for uses and meaning of favor collocated with these words.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Derived terms
Translations
Verb
favor (third-person singular simple present favors, present participle favoring, simple past and past participle favored) (US, alternative in Canada, transitive)
- To look upon fondly; to prefer.
- To use more often.
- To encourage, conduce to
- To do a favor [noun sense 1] for; to show beneficence toward.
- (in dialects, including Southern US and Cajun) To resemble; especially, to look like (another person).
Synonyms
Antonyms
Derived terms
Translations
References
- “favor”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
Catalan
Etymology
From Latin favōrem. First attested in the 14th century.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): (Central) [fəˈβor]
- IPA(key): (Balearic) [fəˈvo]
- IPA(key): (Valencia) [faˈvoɾ]
Noun
favor m or (archaic, regional or poetic) f (plural favors)
- favour
Derived terms
- a favor de
- afavorir
- en favor de
- per favor
References
Further reading
- “favor” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
- “favor” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
- “favor” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
Kabuverdianu
Etymology
From Portuguese favor.
Noun
favor
- favour
- pleasure
Latin
Etymology
From faveō (“I am well disposed or inclined toward, favor, countenance, befriend”) + -or.
Pronunciation
- (Classical Latin) IPA(key): /ˈfa.u̯or/, [ˈfäu̯ɔr]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈfa.vor/, [ˈfäːvor]
Noun
favor m (genitive favōris); third declension
- good will, inclination, partiality, favor
- Synonym: beneficium
- Antonyms: maleficium, iniūria, dētrīmentum, noxa, calamitās
- support
Declension
Third-declension noun.
Derived terms
- favōrābilis
Descendants
References
- “favor”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “favor”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- "favor", in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
- favor in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
- Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book[2], London: Macmillan and Co.
- William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “favor”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
Middle English
Noun
favor
- Alternative form of favour
Norn
Alternative forms
- fa vor (rare)
Etymology
From Old Norse faðir (“father”) + vár (“our”), from Proto-Germanic *fadēr + *unseraz, from Proto-Indo-European *ph₂tḗr. Compare Shetlandic fy vor.
Noun
favor
- (Orkney) our father
Occitan
Etymology
From Latin favor.
Pronunciation
Noun
favor f (plural favors)
- favor
Antonyms
- desfavor
Derived terms
- favorable
- favorir
- favorisar
- favorit
- favoritisme
- favorablament
- afavorir
- en favor de
- a favor de
- per favor
- faire una favor
- dar les favors
Portuguese
Etymology
From Latin favor (“favour; good will”), from faveō (“to favour”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰoweh₁ (“to notice”).
Pronunciation
- Rhymes: (Portugal, São Paulo) -oɾ, (Brazil) -oʁ
- Hyphenation: fa‧vor
Noun
favor m (plural favores)
- favor (instance of voluntarily assisting someone)
- favor; goodwill (benevolent regard)
- Synonyms: (obsolete) favorança, graça, mercê
Derived terms
- a favor de
- em favor de
- fazer o favor de
- por favor
Related terms
Descendants
- Macanese: favôr
Adverb
favor (not comparable)
- (before a verb in the infinitive) please (seen on warnings and the like)
Romanian
Noun
favor n (plural favoruri)
- Alternative form of favoare
Declension
Spanish
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin favōrem.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /faˈboɾ/ [faˈβ̞oɾ]
- Rhymes: -oɾ
- Syllabification: fa‧vor
Noun
favor m (plural favores)
- favor/favour
Derived terms
Related terms
Further reading
- “favor”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10
Venetan
Etymology
Compare Italian favore
Noun
favor m (plural favuri)
- favour