Favoured

How to spell favoured

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce favoured

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does favoured mean?

1. verbShowed preference for, or treated more kindly than others, in the past.
2. adjectivePreferred, advantaged, or regarded with special approval.

Favoured in a sentence

• verb

  The panel favoured the candidate with the strongest references.

• adjective

  The favoured design was eventually chosen for the new logo.

• verb

  Throughout the negotiation she favoured a cautious, gradual approach.

• adjective

  He grew up as the clearly favoured child in the household.

Where does favoured come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin noun favor, meaning 'goodwill' or 'kindness', which itself grew from the verb favere, 'to show kindness to' or 'to be well disposed toward'. It passed into English through Old French, where the spelling appeared as favor or faveur, arriving in the 1300s with the sense of approval or partiality. The -our ending preserved in British and Canadian usage reflects that Old French route, where many borrowed nouns kept the -our spelling, while American English later trimmed it to -or. The same Latin root sits behind the everyday words 'favourable' and 'favourite', and recognising that shared family helps fix the ou in the middle. The trap for the writer is precisely that ou cluster, which is easy to drop when the American 'favored' is seen so often in print and online.

How the word is built

• favour (from Latin favor: goodwill, kindness)
• -ed (past tense / past participle suffix)

British and American spelling

Favoured is the British spelling. American English spells it favored.