preference

Definition

The selection of one thing or person over others (with the main adposition being "for" in relation to the thing or person, but possibly also "of")

Etymology

From Middle French preference, from Medieval Latin preferentia. Doublet of preferans. Morphologically prefer + -ence.

Example Sentences

• "He has a preference for crisp wines."
• "Can I keep my preferences when I upgrade to the new version of this application?"
• "Where we once sent love letters in a sealed envelope, or stuck photographs of our children in a family album, now such private material is despatched to servers and clouds operated by people we don't know and will never meet. Perhaps we assume that our name, address and search preferences will be viewed by some unseen pair of corporate eyes, probably not human, and don't mind that much."