preferment
(prɪˈfɜːmənt)
[f. prefer + -ment.]
I. † 1. The action of putting or bringing forward; furtherance, promotion. Obs.
| 1454 Rolls of Parlt. V. 254/2 To..the good spede and preferrement of the said Rescows. 1536 Act 28 Hen. VIII, c. 7 §3 For the settyng forthe or preferrement of the deuorce or dissolucion therof. 1581 Savile Tacitus, Hist. ii. xcii. (1591) 107 P. Sabinus and Julius Priscus were constituted captaines of the Garde; Priscus by Valens preferment [Priscus Valentis gratia] and Sabinus by Caecinaes. |
2. Advancement or promotion in condition, status, or position in life; in early use, also, that which is done or given towards the advancement of the children of a family or the promotion of the marriage of a daughter.
| 1478 in Verney Papers (Camden) 26 For asmoch as my doughters dame Margarete Raleghe and Beatrice Danvers haue had their preferrement at their mariages of their porcions to theme belongyng of my goodes, and my sonnes John Verney and Rauf Verney have not hadde their suche preferrement. 1522 in Eng. Gilds (1870) 237 Towarde the preferment and maryage of the sayd Anne. 1553 Bale tr. Gardiner's De vera Obed. To Rdr. A vij, Vpon hope of preferment to the diuinitie lecture in Oxforde. 1558 Knaresborough Wills (Surtees) I. 77 Should either dye before she come to the preferment of mariage. 1662 Wood Life (O.H.S.) I. 465 There is no preferment to be had without money. 1704 Nelson Fest. & Fasts x. (1739) 602 For the obtaining or procuring such Ecclesiastical Preferment. 1879 Froude Cæsar xxii. 385 With their idle luxury, their hunger for lands and office and preferment. |
3. An appointment or post which gives social or pecuniary advancement; chiefly, an ecclesiastical appointment.
| 1536 Act 27 Hen. VIII, c. 42 §1 Benefices and other preferrementes. 1613 Shakes. Hen. VIII, v. i. 36 Further Sir, [Cromwell] Stands in the gap and Trade of moe Preferments, With which the Time will loade him. 1625 Bacon Ess., Sedition & Tr. (Arb.) 405 When more are bred Schollers, then Preferments can take off. 1733 Fielding Intrig. Chambermaid ii. ix, Your interest will help him to places and preferments in abundance. 1883 Ld. Penzance in Law Rep. 8 Probate Div. 197 That the defendant held no preferment within the jurisdiction. |
II. † 4. The action or fact of preferring, choosing, or favouring, as more desirable; the giving of preference; preference, advantage. Obs.
| 1526 Tindale Rom. iii. 1 What preferment then hath the Jewe? [So 1557 (Genev.).] a 1618 Raleigh Maxims St. in Rem. (1661) 55 To give an equality, or sometimes a preferment to the Common People. a 1754 E. Erskine in Spurgeon Treas. Dav. Ps. lxxxix. 16 The ground of the believer's preferment and exaltation. |
b. spec. Priority of right, claim, or privilege; esp. prior right to receive payment, or to purchase or offer for anything to be sold or let. arch.
| 1451 Rolls of Parlt. V. 214/1 That the Act made..for youre [Hen. VI's] preferrement in payment of xx m. li...be good. 1473 Ibid. VI. 73/1 Rewardes, Profittes, Commodities, Preferrementes, had, made or graunted, for or by reason of the said Office. 1475 Ibid. VI. 124/1 That the said Priour and Covent..by the same auctorite, have preferment of and for the payment of the said vii. li. yerely. 1495 Act 11 Hen. VII, c. 33 §3 Persones which nowe have to ferme any of the seid Lordshippes..shall have preferrement in the takyng of the same.. befor any other. 1587 Sir C. Wray in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) II. 365 The said Fellowes..shall alwaie haue the vse and preferment of two of the midle chambers. 1886 H. Hall Soc. Eliz. Age 93 He sent..to crave preferment of purchase if the place must be sold. |
III. 5. attrib. and Comb.
| 1818 Bentham Ch. Eng. 440 Hope of translation, and thence the pursuit called preferment-hunting, scarcely even in Scotland can have been altogether without example. 1845 Ld. Campbell Chancellors (1857) IV. xcvi. 313 Parasites and preferment-hunters crowded the levee. |
Hence † preˈfermentary (nonce-wd., after prebendary), a recipient of preferment.
| 1660 Waterhouse Arms & Arm. 126 This made the Graduate Divine from a Chaplin in ordinary, become a prefermentary extraordinary. |