Preferred

How to spell preferred

9 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce preferred

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does preferred mean?

1. verbPast tense of prefer: liked or chose one thing more than another.
2. adjectiveLiked, favoured, or chosen above other options.

Preferred in a sentence

• verb

  She preferred the window seat because she liked watching the runway.

• adjective

  Email is her preferred method of contact during work hours.

• verb

  Most of the team preferred the earlier meeting time.

• adjective

  The bank offered a lower rate to its preferred customers.

Where does preferred come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This is the past tense and participle of the verb 'prefer', which English took from the Old French preferer in the late 1300s. That French verb came straight from the Latin praeferre, a compound of prae meaning 'before' and ferre meaning 'to carry' or 'to bear', so the literal idea was 'to carry one thing in front of another', that is, to set it ahead in your estimation. The same ferre root carries (quite fittingly) into many English words such as 'transfer', 'refer' and 'infer'. The spelling trap lives entirely in the ending: because 'prefer' is stressed on its final syllable, the final r doubles when you add -ed, giving 'preferred' rather than the wrong 'prefered'. Writers who recall that 'offer' and 'differ' stress the first syllable, and so keep a single r ('offered', 'differed'), can use that contrast to remember why 'prefer' doubles.

How the word is built

• pre- (before)
• fer (from Latin ferre: to carry, to bear)
• -red (doubled r before the past-tense suffix -ed)