Favor Meaning
/ˈfeɪ.və/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounA kind or helpful deed; an instance of voluntarily assisting (someone).
nounGoodwill; benevolent regard.
Sentence Examples
Are you in favor of the workers getting more money?
Are you in favor of or against that policy?
CEFR Practice Quiz
Could you do me a ____ and carry this heavy box?
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Could you do me a ____ and pick up some milk on your way home from the office today?
Word Origin & History
From Middle English favour, favor, faver, from Anglo-Norman favour, from mainland Old French favor, from Latin favor (“good will; kindness; partiality”), from faveō (“to be kind to”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂weh₁yeti (“to be favourable to”), from the root Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- (“to shine, glow light”). Respelled in American English to more closely match its Latin etymon. Compare also Danish favør (“favor”), Irish fabhar (“favor”), from the same Romance source.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Then came a maid with hand-bag and shawls, and after her a tall young lady.[…]She looked around expectantly, and recognizing Mrs. Cooke's maid[…]Miss Thorn greeted her with a smile which greatly prepossessed us in her favor."
— 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
"Samara: She confuses her victims, twists their feelings. They will do anything for her favor."
— 2010, BioWare, Mass Effect 2 (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Normandy SR-2:
"Here, Fluellen; wear thou this favour for me and
stick it in thy cap: when Alencon and myself were
down together, I plucked this glove from his helm […]"
— 1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene vii]:
"The rain drove into the bride and bridegroom's faces as they passed to the chariot. The postilions' favours draggled on their dripping jackets."
— 1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 22, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC:
"I could not discover the lenity and favour of this sentence."
— 1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume I, London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], →OCLC, part I (A Voyage to Lilliput):
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
Could you do me a ____ and carry this heavy box?
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Could you do me a ____ and pick up some milk on your way home from the office today?