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favor - 7 dictionary results
fa⋅vor
[fey-ver]
–noun
| 1. | something done or granted out of goodwill, rather than from justice or for remuneration; a kind act: to ask a favor. |
| 2. | friendly or well-disposed regard; goodwill: to win the favor of the king. |
| 3. | the state of being approved or held in regard: to be in favor at court; styles that are now in favor. |
| 4. | excessive kindness or unfair partiality; preferential treatment: to treat some people with favor and others with neglect. |
| 5. | a gift bestowed as a token of goodwill, kind regard, love, etc., as formerly upon a knight by his lady. |
| 6. | a ribbon, badge, etc., worn in evidence of goodwill or loyalty, as by an adherent of a political party. |
| 7. | a small gift or decorative or festive item, as a noisemaker or paper hat, often distributed to guests at a party. |
| 8. | Usually, favors. sexual intimacy, esp. as permitted by a woman. |
| 9. | Archaic. a letter, esp. a commercial one. |
–verb (used with object)
—Idioms| 10. | to regard with favor: to favor an enterprise. |
| 11. | to prefer; treat with partiality: The father favored his younger son. |
| 12. | to show favor to; oblige: The king favored him with an audience. |
| 13. | to be favorable to; facilitate: The wind favored their journey. |
| 14. | to deal with, treat, or use gently: to favor a lame leg. |
| 15. | to aid or support: He favored his party's cause with ample funds. |
| 16. | to bear a physical resemblance to; resemble: to favor one's father's side of the family. |
| 17. | find favor with, to gain the favor of; be liked by: The play found favor with the opening-night audience. |
| 18. | in favor of,
|
| 19. | in one's favor, to one's credit or advantage: All the comments were in your favor. |
| 20. | out of favor, no longer liked or approved; no longer popular or fashionable: He's out of favor with the president and may soon be fired. |
Also, especially British, favour.
Origin:
1250–1300; ME favo(u)r < AF, OF < L favōr- (s. of favor) goodwill, equiv. to fav(ēre) to be favorably inclined + -ōr- -or 1
1250–1300; ME favo(u)r < AF, OF < L favōr- (s. of favor) goodwill, equiv. to fav(ēre) to be favorably inclined + -ōr- -or 1

Related forms:
fa⋅vor⋅er, noun
Synonyms:
2. Favor, goodwill imply a kindly regard or friendly disposition shown by an individual or group. Favor may be merely an attitude of mind: to look with favor on a proposal. Goodwill is more active and leads often to outward manifestations of friendly approval: By frequent applause the audience showed its goodwill toward the speaker. 5. present. 10. approve, countenance, sanction. 12. encourage, patronize. 15. help, assist.
2. Favor, goodwill imply a kindly regard or friendly disposition shown by an individual or group. Favor may be merely an attitude of mind: to look with favor on a proposal. Goodwill is more active and leads often to outward manifestations of friendly approval: By frequent applause the audience showed its goodwill toward the speaker. 5. present. 10. approve, countenance, sanction. 12. encourage, patronize. 15. help, assist.
Antonyms:
2. animosity, malice. 10. disapprove.
2. animosity, malice. 10. disapprove.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To favor
fa·vor (fā'vər) n.
v. tr.
To resemble another in appearance: She and her father favor. [Middle English, from Old French, from Latin, from favēre, to be favorable.] fa'vor·er n., fa'vor·ing·ly adv. When a Southerner favors a relative, he or she is not giving that person special privileges; rather, the Southerner looks like that relative. Favor can be either transitive—She favors her father—or intransitive with a compound subject: She and her father favor. This sense of favor goes back to early modern English: "This young lord Chamont/Favors my mother" (Ben Jonson). The verb derives from the noun favor, which was used from the 15th to the 19th century to mean "appearance, aspect; the countenance, face": "What makes thy favor like the bloodless head/Fall'n on the block?" (Tennyson). This sense of the noun is now archaic, but the verb thrives in the English of the Southern United States. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Favor
Fa"vor\, n. [Written also favour.] [OF. favor, F. faveur, L. favor, fr. favere to be favorable, cf. Skr. bh[=a]vaya to further, foster, causative of bh[=u] to become, be. Cf. Be. In the phrase to curry favor, favor is prob. for favel a horse. See 2d Favel.]1. Kind regard; propitious aspect; countenance; friendly disposition; kindness; good will. Hath crawled into the favor of the king. --Shak. 2. The act of countenancing, or the condition of being countenanced, or regarded propitiously; support; promotion; befriending. But found no favor in his lady's eyes. --Dryden. And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man. --Luke ii. 52. 3. A kind act or office; kindness done or granted; benevolence shown by word or deed; an act of grace or good will, as distinct from justice or remuneration. Beg one favor at thy gracious hand. --Shak. 4. Mildness or mitigation of punishment; lenity. I could not discover the lenity and favor of this sentence. --Swift. 5. The object of regard; person or thing favored. All these his wondrous works, but chiefly man, His chief delight and favor. --Milton. 6. A gift or represent; something bestowed as an evidence of good will; a token of love; a knot of ribbons; something worn as a token of affection; as, a marriage favor is a bunch or knot of white ribbons or white flowers worn at a wedding. Wear thou this favor for me, and stick it in thy cap. --Shak. 7. Appearance; look; countenance; face. [Obs.] This boy is fair, of female favor. --Shak. 8. (Law) Partiality; bias. --Bouvier. 9. A letter or epistle; -- so called in civility or compliment; as, your favor of yesterday is received. 10. pl. Love locks. [Obs.] --Wright. Challenge to the favor or for favor (Law), the challenge of a juror on grounds not sufficient to constitute a principal challenge, but sufficient to give rise to a probable suspicion of favor or bias, such as acquaintance, business relation, etc. See Principal challenge, under Challenge. In favor of, upon the side of; favorable to; for the advantage of. In favor with, favored, countenanced, or encouraged by. To curry favor [see the etymology of Favor, above], to seek to gain favor by flattery, caresses, kindness, or officious civilities. With one's favor, or By one's favor, with leave; by kind permission. But, with your favor, I will treat it here. --Dryden. Syn: Kindness; countenance; patronage; support; lenity; grace; gift; present; benefit.Favor
Fa"vor\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Favored; p. pr. & vb. n. Favoring.] [Written also favour.] [Cf. OF. favorer, favorir. See Favor, n.]1. To regard with kindness; to support; to aid, or to have the disposition to aid, or to wish success to; to be propitious to; to countenance; to treat with consideration or tenderness; to show partiality or unfair bias towards. O happy youth! and favored of the skies. --Pope. He that favoreth Joab, . . . let him go after Joab. --2 Sam. xx. 11. [The painter] has favored her squint admirably. --Swift. 2. To afford advantages for success to; to facilitate; as, a weak place favored the entrance of the enemy. 3. To resemble in features; to have the aspect or looks of; as, the child favors his father. The porter owned that the gentleman favored his master. --Spectator.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : favor
Spanish:
favor,
German:
der Gefallen,
Japanese:
親切な行為
favor (n.)
c.1300, from O.Fr. favor, from L. favorem (nom. favor) "good will or support," coined by Cicero from stem of favere "to show kindness to," from PIE *dhegh-/*dhogh- "burn." Meaning "thing given as a mark of favor" is from 1588. The verb meaning "to regard with favor" is from 1340.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: fa·vor
Function: noun
1 : BIAS
2 : BENEFIT—in favor of : to the benefit of in favor of the defendant>—in one's favor : to one's benefit in his favor>
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Copyright © 2009, Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.

