Favour

How to spell favour

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce favour

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does favour mean?

1. nounA kind or helpful act done for someone out of goodwill rather than obligation.
2. nounApproval, goodwill, or preferential support shown towards a person or cause.
3. verbTo prefer one option, person, or approach over another.

Favour in a sentence

• noun

  She asked her neighbour for a small favour while she was away.

• noun

  The proposal quickly won the favour of the entire board.

• verb

  Most managers favour candidates who can show practical experience.

• noun

  Lending him the car was a genuine favour that he never forgot.

• noun

  The new policy found little favour among long-serving staff.

• verb

  The committee tends to favour projects with clear local benefits.

Where does favour come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin favor, meaning 'goodwill', 'kindness', or 'support', which itself grew from the verb favere, 'to be well disposed towards' or 'to show kindness to'. It travelled into English during the 1300s by way of Old French, where it was spelled favour, and that Old French spelling is exactly why British and Canadian English still keep the -our ending today. The earliest English senses clustered around approval and benevolent regard, and from there the word branched into the idea of a kind act done for someone and, later, a small token or gift handed out at a celebration. The same Latin root favere also gives us 'favourite' and the more formal 'favourable', so the whole family shares the goodwill at its heart. American English trimmed the spelling to 'favor' in the nineteenth century, which is why writers in Britain and Canada must consciously hold on to that extra u.

How the word is built

• favour (from Latin favor: goodwill, kindness)
• -our (British noun ending preserving the Old French form)

British and American spelling

Favour is the British spelling. American English spells it favor.