Where does “favourite” come from?
Favourite comes from Middle French favorit, derived from Middle French favorir, from Latin favor, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European bʰeh₂- meaning to speak or say.
favourite (English): Preferred or liked above all others; Belonging to...
Definitions
- Preferred or liked above all others; Belonging to...
Ancestry of “favourite”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle French | favorit | favored one |
| 2 | Old French | favorit | — |
| 3 | Italian | favorito | favourite; mollycoddle; teacher's pet |
| 4 | Italian | favorire | to favour, to favor, to help, to aid, to support;... |
| 5 | Italian | favore | favour |
| 6 | Latin | favor | good will, inclination, partiality, favor;... |
| 7 | Latin | -or | used to form a third-declension masculine... |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | -ōs | Creates masculine action nouns or result nouns... |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | -ōs | Creates masculine and feminine action nouns or... |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | -oss | — |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | -os | Creates action nouns or result nouns from verbs;... |