Confer

How to spell confer

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce confer

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does confer mean?

1. verbTo consult or exchange views with others before reaching a decision.
2. verbTo grant or bestow a title, degree, honour, or right on someone.

Confer in a sentence

• The lawyer asked to confer with her client before the hearing resumed.

• The university will confer an honorary degree on the retiring professor.

• The managers stepped aside to confer about the new budget.

• Only parliament can confer such powers on a local authority.

Where does confer come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes from the Latin verb conferre, which combined com- meaning 'together' with ferre meaning 'to bring' or 'to carry', so its literal sense was 'to bring together'. From that root grew two strands of meaning that English still keeps: gathering people together to talk things over, and bringing a gift or honour to someone. English adopted the word in the early 1500s, partly through the influence of French conferer. The same ferre root that means 'to carry' also sits inside familiar relatives like 'transfer' (carry across), 'refer' (carry back) and 'prefer' (carry before). A useful spelling note: when you add an ending and the stress lands on that final syllable, the r doubles, as in 'conferred' and 'conferring', but the base word 'confer' keeps a single r.

How the word is built

• con- (together, from Latin com-)
• fer (to bring or carry, from Latin ferre)