Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “favorite” come from?

favorite (English) comes from Middle French favorit, from Old French favorit, from Italian favorito, from Italian favorire, from Italian favore, from Latin favor, from Latin -or, from Proto-Italic -ōs — Creates action nouns or result nouns from verbs;...

favorite (English): Alternative form of favourite

Definitions

  1. Alternative form of favourite

Ancestry of “favorite”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Frenchfavoritfavored one
2Old Frenchfavorit—
3Italianfavoritofavourite; mollycoddle; teacher's pet
4Italianfavorireto favour, to favor, to help, to aid, to support;...
5Italianfavorefavour
6Latinfavorgood will, inclination, partiality, favor;...
7Latin-orused to form a third-declension masculine...
8Proto-Italic-ōsCreates masculine action nouns or result nouns...
9Proto-Indo-European-ōsCreates masculine and feminine action nouns or...
10Proto-Indo-European-oss—
11Proto-Indo-European-osCreates action nouns or result nouns from verbs;...

Words derived from “favorite”

  • favoritism
  • fave
  • favo
  • unfavorite
  • cofavorite
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -os →