"favorite" in seven languages
Meaningfavorite
Spanish
preferido
/pɾefeˈɾido/
learned
Favorito is just as common.
French
préféré
/pʁefeʁe/
learned
fem.: préférée
Favori, favorite also exists.
Italian
preferito
/prefeˈrito/
learned
Portuguese
preferido
/pɾefeˈɾidu/
learned
Romanian
preferat
/prefeˈrat/
learned
Catalan
preferit
/pɾəfəˈɾit/
learned
English
favorite
/ˈfeɪvɚɪt/
other source · Middle French favorit, from Italian favorito (Latin FAVOR)
English → ItalianfavoritepreferitoNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: prefer, preference.What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
PRAEFERRE‘to carry in front, prefer’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
The sisters' favorite is the 'preferred' one, a participle of the learned verb from PRAEFERRE. English favorite came from Italian favorito by way of French.
English relatives: prefer, preference
Learn it
In a sentence
- esEl azul es mi color preferido.
- frLe bleu est ma couleur préférée.
- itIl blu è il mio colore preferito.
- ptAzul é a minha cor preferida.
- roAlbastrul este culoarea mea preferată.
- caEl blau és el meu color preferit.
- enBlue is my favorite color.