confer, v.
(kənˈfɜː(r))
[ad. L. confer-re to bring together, collect, gather, contribute, connect, join, consult together, bring together for joint examination, compare; also to confer, or bestow; f. con- together, and intensive + fer-re to bear, bring. F. conférer (14th c. in Littré) does not appear to have been taken into Eng.: hence the difference of stress between conˈfer, deˈfer, inˈfer, and ˈdiffer, ˈoffer, ˈproffer, ˈsuffer. Cf. collate, formed on the ppl. stem of L. conferre.]
† 1. trans. To bring together, gather, collect; to add together. Obs.
| 1571 Homilies ii. Rebellion vi. (1574) 613 To conferre theyr common forces, to the defence of theyr felowe Christians. 1590 Recorde, etc. Gr. Artes 386, I did conferre their debts together, and found the debt of the first and the second to amount to 47 pound. 1615 Chapman Odyss. xxii. 619 That all the handmaids she should first confer. 1618 ― Hesiod ii. 29 All tooles..And..tacklings, to thy House confer. |
† b. To include together, comprise, comprehend.
| c 1540 Pilgr. T. 727 in Thynne's Animadv. App. i. 98 Under the coler of the wolfe Is conferyd al the stinking fuet—So the hunters call it whan they mak ther suet. 1610 J. Guillim Heraldry iii. xxiv. (1660) 245 The skull is inwardly hollow, to the end that the braine..might be the more commodiously conferred therein. c 1611 Chapman Iliad Pref. 70 The works of all being conferred and preserved there. |
† c. fig. To bring (e.g. to mind, under one's notice, etc.). Obs.
| 1586 A. Day Engl. Secretarie i. (1625) 13, I conferre the regard thereof to my present imaginations. Ibid. 61 But what doe I conferre unto your view the notes of such and so many doubts and hazards. |
† 2. To collect, give, or furnish as a contribution; to contribute. Const. to. Obs.
| 1538 Starkey England ii. i. (1871) 176 To conferre euery yere a certayn summe..to the byldyng and reformyng of al such..placys. 1628 Hobbes Thucyd. i. ix. (1822) 6 He himself hath conferred most ships to that action. a 1677 Barrow Serm. (1810) I. 4 It confers somewhat to the need, convenience, or comfort of those..creatures. |
† b. absol. To contribute (unto, to). Obs.
| 1528 in Strype Eccl. Mem. I. App. xxiii. 46 Such things..as might conferre unto the same. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. ii. ii. 64 The Compasse, declaring rather the ship is turned, then conferring unto its conversion. 1655–60 Stanley Hist. Philos. (1701) 262 Those things which confer hereunto are to be esteemed Goods. a 1677 Barrow Serm. Ps. cxxxii. 16 The Priests do confer to the good of the State. 1703 T. N. City & C. Purch. 11 Addition of Distent will confer much to their Beauty. |
3. trans. To give, grant, bestow, as a grace, or as the act of a qualified superior.
| 1570 Act 13 Eliz. c. 12 §8 No Title to conferr or present by Lapse, shall accrue upon any Depryvation ipso facto. 1633 P. Fletcher Purple Isl. i. v, Such honour thus conferr'd. 1717 Pope in Lady M. W. Montague's Lett. xxvi, The very favour you are then conferring. 1725 Berkeley Proposal Wks. III. 231 They have also the power of conferring Degrees in all Faculties. 1765–9 Blackstone Comm. (1793) 505 The stile and title..which the king is pleased to confer. 1878 G. Macdonald Phantastes II. xviii. 69 Benefits conferred awaken love in some minds. Mod. The ordinary degrees were then conferred. |
† b. Const. to, unto, or dat.; rarely into. Obs.
| 1542 Udall tr. Erasm. Apoph. 254 The garlande murall, (whiche the..Capitain conferred to suche persone as..had firste scaled the walles). 1548 Gest Pr. Masse 84 It is y⊇ sacramental mean wherwyth they be applied and conferred vnto us. 1598 Chapman Iliad ii. 307 Jove bow'd his head..for sign we should confer These Trojans their due fate. 1654 R. Codrington tr. Hist. Ivstine 20 The Kingdom of the Persians..was conferred into the power of one. 1665 Manley Grotius' Low-C. Warres 593 To confer his right of Claym in that Kingdom to Philip. 1768–74 Tucker Lt. Nat. (1852) I. 262 Virtue..confers us very little benefit. |
c. Const. on, upon. (Cf. bestow v. 6 b.)
| 1610 Shakes. Temp. i. ii. 126 And confer faire Millaine With all the Honors, on my brother. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. ii. xxx. 178 Those that have the Soveraign Power conferred on them. 1841 Lane Arab. Nts. I. 12 For the favour he had conferred upon him. 1861 Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. i. (1889) 3 Why should we not make the public pay for the great benefits we confer on them? |
d. with the subject a thing.
| a 1600 Hooker Eccl. Pol. vi. vi. §11 That sacraments contain and confer grace. 1809 J. Marshall Const. Opin. (1839) 113 The incorporating act confers this jurisdiction. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. xv. 102 That joy of heart which perfect health confers. |
† 4. To bring into comparison, compare, collate. Const. usually with; also to, unto. Also absol. Obs.
(Exceedingly common from 1530 to 1650. The Latin abbreviation ‘cf.’ of confer = compare, is still in use.)
| a 1533 Frith Disput. Purgat. Pref. (1829) 85 Let us ever confer them unto the pure word of God. 1544 T. Phaer Regim. Lyfe (1560) S ij b, Conferrynge the boke and the herbe duly together. 1557 (title), The Newe Testament..Conferred diligently with the Greke, and best approued translations. 1586 A. Day Engl. Secretarie ii. (1625) 94 If they be conferred..to the life and joyes to come. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. ii. iii. iii. (1651) 326 Confer future and times past with present. 1655–60 Stanley Hist. Philos. (1701) 479 Most of our party confer Irrational Creatures in general simply with Men. 1753 Hanway Trav. (1762) II. i. vii. 35 To confer occasionally, in order to see that his accounts agree. |
† b. to confer notes: see compare v.1 2 b. Obs.
| 1650 Fuller Pisgah ii. xiv. 300 Here Gentile and Jew confer their notes, and compare their intelligence together concerning Christ's birth. 1654 H. L'Estrange Chas. I (1655) 177 All their informers assemble, and confer their notes together. c 1704 Swift The Problem, The Ladies vanish in the smother To confer notes with one another. |
† c. To put the sense together, construe. Obs.
| 1554 Philpot Exam. & Writ. (Parker Soc.) 334 Where we say that the holy Church..may err, that is thus to be conferred, that it is possible some part of the Church for a time to be deceived. |
† 5. intr. To agree, accord, conform (with, to).
| 1560 Frampton in Strype Ann. Ref. I. xx. 244 They asked me, whether I would confer with their religion..And I did confer with them in their religion. 1641 Vind. Smectymnuus Pref., Churches that doe not conferre to Episcopall Government. |
† b. trans. Obs.
| 1535 Goodly Primer D iij, They that conferre theyr lyfe and workes to the signes of heuen. |
6. intr. To converse, talk together; now always on an important subject, or on some stated question: to hold conference, take counsel, consult.
| 1545 in Lodge Illust. Brit. Hist. (1791) I. 114 The Wardens, wt. whom I have conferred in that behalf, do say. 1586 Cogan Haven Health ccxli. (1636) 272 To conferre and talke with our friends of merry matters. 1596 Shakes. Tam. Shr. v. ii. 102 They sit conferring by the Parler fire. 1666 Pepys Diary (1879) VI. 26 Desirous that I would come..and confer with him about the Navy. 1726 Chetwood Adv. Capt. Boyle 226, I observ'd the Maid..conferring with a Country Fellow. 1769 Robertson Chas. V, III. vii. 51 A certain number..should meet, in order to confer upon the points in dispute. 1879 E. Garrett House by Works II. 38 The two girls conferred together, and Lydia accepted the offer. |
b. fig.
| 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 87, I would have you conferre w{supt} your owne conscience. 1610 Bp. Hall Apol. Brownists Wks. (1614) 731 Consider, and conferre seriously. |
† 7. trans. To discuss, talk over, consult about.
| 1552 T. Barnabe in Ellis Orig. Lett. ii. 145 II. 205 To com to hym and conferre certayne matters with hym. 1582 N. T. (Rhem.) Luke xxiv. 17 What are these communications that you conferre one with an other [sermones quos confertis]? 1667 Milton P.L. i. 774 They..confer Thir State affairs. 1689 tr. Buchanan's De Jure R. 2 Freedom of speaking and conferring the thoughts of the Heart. |