English → Latin
“prefer” in Latin
praepōnōto place or set over as chief, commander, or superintendent; to place at the head of or entrust with the charge or commaantepōnōto put or place in front of; to preferpraeferōto bear, hold or carry before or forth, place or set before; to offer, present; to prefer, like, give preference toanteferōto carry or bear before; to place before or in front of; to anticipatepraeoptōto prefermālōto prefer, want more or instead; to wish rather, choose ratherlibellusthe inner bark of a tree used for writing tablets; a little book, booklet, pamphlet (esp. a book written in pages rather
The English word prefer itself goes back to Latin ferō, through praeferō.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
prefer
To value a person or thing more highly than another, praeponere: anteponere: praeferre: anteferre (general terms): aliquem potissimum diligere (to love anybody before others): rem aliqua re potiorem habere (to prefer one thing to another as being better, more important or advisable, etc., Caes., B. C. 1, 8 and 9): praeoptare (with following infinitive; to desire rather): malle (to wish or choose by preference, with following infinitive.; e.g., he preferred death, mori maluit).
To promote, Vid:
Offer, etc. To prefer a complaint, libellum dare judici, against anybody, de aliquo; a petition, libello or scripto adire aliquem (of a written petition): rogare aliquem aliquid (to ask him).
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for prefer?
- The usual Latin words for “prefer” are praepōnō, antepōnō, praeferō; also anteferō, praeoptō, mālō. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.