- the act of preferring
- something or someone preferred
- the granting of favour or precedence to particular foreign countries, as by levying differential tariffs
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
pref•er•ence /ˈprɛfərəns/USA pronunciation
n.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- the act of preferring;
the state of being preferred:[uncountable]showing preference in hiring practices. - something preferred:[countable]My preference would be for a vegetarian meal.
- Government[uncountable] the favoring of one country over others in international trade.
pref•er•ence
(pref′ər əns, pref′rəns),USA pronunciation n.
- the act of preferring.
- the state of being preferred.
- that which is preferred;
choice:His preference is vanilla, not chocolate. - a practical advantage given to one over others.
- a prior right or claim, as to payment of dividends or to assets upon dissolution.
- the favoring of one country or group of countries by granting special advantages over others in international trade.
- Medieval Latin praeferentia. See prefer, -ence
- 1595–1605
- 3. selection, pick. See choice.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
preference /ˈprɛfərəns; ˈprɛfrəns/ n
'preference' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
above
- affect
- Alternative Vote
- azalea
- before
- bias
- check
- convertible
- donkey vote
- favour
- favourite
- first
- inclination
- like
- liking
- opt
- optative
- ordinary shares
- over
- -phile
- pleasure
- predilection
- pre-emption
- pref.
- preferably
- preference shares
- preferential
- preferred ordinary shares
- preferred stock
- ranked choice voting
- select
- selection
- share
- Single Transferable Vote
- sooner
- taste
- than
- them
- they
- torn
- vote
- abstract expressionism
- agree
- Americanism
- between
- care
- choice
- choose
- common stock
- court