preference
(ˈprɛfərəns)
Also 7 -ferrence.
[a. F. préférence (14th c. in Littré), ad. med.L. præferentia (1062 in Du Cange), f. L. præferent-, pr. pple. of præferre to prefer: see -ence.]
1. a. The action of preferring or the fact of being preferred; liking for or estimation of one thing before or above another; prior favour or choice.
| 1656 Blount Glossogr., Preference, preferment, advancement, account before, place above, others. 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 257 Who (if he have a mind to keep his place) must give the same sum that the other hath offered, and so has the Preference. 1744 Harris Three Treat. Wks. (1841) 33 As to the preference which such poetic imitation may claim before musical,..the merits on each side may appear perhaps equal. 1754 Edwards Freed. Will ii. vi. (1762) 56 [It] can't be that the mind is indifferent before it comes to have a choice, or till it has a Preference. 1870 Freeman Norm. Conq. (ed. 2) I. App. 626 To deny that Eadward had any preference over his half⁓brother. |
b. spec., under the system of preferential voting (see preferential a. c), the naming or numbering of candidates in the order desired by the voter; hence, the position in that order assigned to any candidate by the voter.
| 1908 Westm. Gaz. 20 Aug. 2/1 Some 272 of Haynes's supporters had not used their preference and so their votes were put aside as exhausted. 1955 E. Lakeman How Democracies Vote iv. 88 The Returning Officer either awards the appropriate number of points for each preference and adds them up, or, if each voter is obliged to number every candidate, adds up the preferences each candidate thus receives. 1965 Austral. Encycl. III. 367/1 In 1910 it [sc. Western Australia] made the marking of preferences necessary to a valid vote. 1975 Irish Times 10 May 1/5, I cannot dictate how my preferences should be distributed. In a democracy that is the right of the electorate. |
† 2. The quality of being preferable; preferableness; precedence, superiority. Obs.
| 1603 Holland Plutarch's Mor. 47 A man is to aime at excellencie and preferrence before others in good and honest things. a 1677 Hale Prim. Orig. Man. 52 To discover the preference that the Humane Nature hath above the Animal Life in these most perfect faculties of Intellect. 1793 Smeaton Edystone L. §227 It..shewed the preference of wedging to cramping, as the cramp had failed. |
3. That which one prefers; the object of prior choice; the favourite.
| 1864 in Webster. 1873 Browning Red Cott. Nt.-cap ii. 1118 And where the stretch Of barren country girdled house about, Behold the Park, the English preference! Mod. colloq. Of the two, this is my preference. |
4. Preferment; promotion. Now rare.
| 1656 [see 1]. 1701 Rowe Amb. Step-Mother ii. i, Is not the Elder By Nature pointed out for Preference? 1786 Francis the Philanthropist I. 86 Jerry, whose utmost wish was accomplished in his preference to a trust. 1893 Harper's Mag. Apr. 683/2 A prodigious crowd of people had flocked to the city in hope of gain or preference. |
5. a. A prior claim to something; spec. priority of payment given to a certain debt or class of debts; a prior right to payment.
fraudulent preference, such payment made by a bankrupt with the object of preventing the equal distribution of his assets among all his creditors.
| 1665 Ir. Act 17 & 18 Chas. II, c. 2 §38 Wentworth earl of Roscommon, and Roger earl of Orrery..shall have preference and primer satisfaction of fifty thousand pounds of their own personal arrears. 1832 Sir J. B. Bosanquet in Bingham Reports (1833) IX. 355 The question here is, whether the security..was given by way of fraudulent preference. [1869 Act 32 & 33 Vict. c. 71 §92 Every conveyance or transfer of property..in favour of any creditor.., with a view of giving such creditor a preference over the other creditors, shall, if the person making..the same become bankrupt within three months..be deemed fraudulent and void.] 1890 Cent. Dict. s.v., The state has a preference for taxes. 1891 New York Tribune 26 Nov. 4/4 (Funk) The firm..made an assignment yesterday..giving two preferences for $600. |
b. Short for preference share: see 8.
| 1890 Pall Mall G. 18 Sept. 7/2 This they proposed to do with 7 per cent. preferences, which at the end of three years could either fall in as ordinary or continue as preference shares. 1906 Westm. Gaz. 25 Jan. 11/1 This is the first time for many years that the holders of the 1889 Preference have received any dividend, but one by one the Preferences are being restored to the dividend-paying list. |
6. Pol. Econ. The practical favouring of one customer before others in business relations; an advantage over rivals given to one of those with whom one deals; spec. the favouring of one country or set of countries by admitting their products at a lower import duty than that levied on those of other countries or of foreigners generally, or by levying a duty on the latter while admitting the former free. A term much used about 1900, in reference to trade between Great Britain and her colonies, as opposed to trade between either of these and foreign countries.
| 1887 Sir S. Griffith in Conference Blue Book (col. 3523) 230 Whether it should not be recognized as part of the duty of the governing bodies of the Empire to see that their own subjects have a preference over foreign subjects in matters of trade. 1891 Sir J. Macdonald Let. to W. H. Smith April, Canada will be quite ready to give British goods a preference of 5 or even 10 per cent. in our markets, if our products receive a corresponding preference in England. 1896 Sir W. Laurier (June 3) in Willison Sir W. L. & Liberal Party II. 287 To have..a new step taken which will give to the Colonies, in England, a preference for their products over the products of other nations. 1903 J. Chamberlain Speeches 15 May 13 Canada in 1898, freely, voluntarily, of her own accord..gave us a preference on all dutiable goods of 25 per cent. In 1900 she increased that preference to 331/3 per cent. Ibid. 6 Oct. 20 Still less am I afraid to preach to you preference with our Colonies. Ibid. 32, I make the same answer as Mr. Rhodes, who suggested reciprocal preference. Ibid. 21 Oct. 111, I made two speeches..accepting the principle of Preference. 1904 Edin. Rev. Apr. 289 On every hand the British consumer was mulcted by colonial preference. Ibid. 292 When the restrictions on colonial commerce were removed, preference went with them. |
7. Cards. a. In the game of Boston: The trump suit (called first preference) or the suit of the same colour (second preference). b. A game resembling whist in which the trump is determined by bidding; Swedish whist.
| 1820 Hoyle's Games (1830) 31 The game of Boston... During each deal, the person opposite to the dealer should shuffle another pack to be cut by his right-hand neighbour, and turn up a card for the First Preference; the suit of the same colour, whether red or black, is styled Second Preference. 1852 Mrs. Gaskell Cranford (1853) vii. 133 We were six in number; four could play at Preference, and for the other two there was Cribbage. 1884 H. Gersoni tr. Turgenieff's Diary Superfluous Man 72 A great lover of preference. 1908 R. W. Chambers Firing Line ii. 20 That kills our four at Bridge... We'll have to play Klondike and Preference now. 1977 V. S. Pritchett Gentle Barbarian v. 80 At Spasskoy he [sc. Turgenev]..played chess and draughts and games of Preference. |
c. Bridge. A bid or pass by a responder indicating in which of two or more suits bid by his partner he wishes to play.
| 1919 R. F. Foster Foster on Auction i. 96 This bidding invariably shows a two-suiter... If he prefers the spades, he can bid two spades to indicate his preference. 1927 M. C. Work Contract Bridge iii. 42 That bid would be a forced take-out and would not announce strength, merely a preference. 1958 Listener 4 Dec. 965/3 If..partner is two-suited it will be enough to give a spade preference when he is able to demand it. |
8. attrib. and Comb., as preference bid = sense 7 c above; preference bond, share, stock, i.e. on which dividend or interest is payable before any is paid on ordinary stock; preference voting = preferential voting s.v. preferential a. c.
| 1842 Wetenhall's Course of Exch. 15 Mar. London & Greenwich [Railw.] Preference or Privilege (Shares). [In prec. issue 11 Mar. designated Bonds.] 1852 Times 1 Nov. Suppl. 9/6 The second instalment of {pstlg}2 per share on each and every 5½ per Cent. preference share in this undertaking [Sambre and Meuse Railway]. 1859 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 8) XVIII. 790/1 Interest on preference stock and loans, 27 per cent. of gross receipts. 1878 F. S. Williams Midl. Railw. 273 A proprietor complained that by means of certain preference shares..a priority of right would be given to outsiders over the ordinary shareholders. 1885 Standard 10 Apr., Egyptian Preference Bonds are largely in their hands. 1908 Westm. Gaz. 20 Aug. 2/1 The local Labour Party is inclined to boycott preference voting and advocate its members to plump. 1927 M. C. Work Contract Bridge iii. 148 Preference bid, a bid made to show preference for one suit over another, rather than strength (in case partner has bid a two-suiter). 1934 G. F. Hervey Contract Bridge Dict. 117 Y's bid is a preference bid showing that he prefers the hand to be played in Spades. |