favor
favor
(fāʹvər) noun
1.
A gracious, friendly, or obliging act that is freely granted: do someone a favor.
2.
a. Friendly or favorable regard; approval or support: won the favor of the monarch; looked with favor on the plan. b. A state of being held in such regard: a style currently in favor.
3. Unfair partiality; favoritism.
4. a. A privilege or concession. b. favors Sexual privileges, especially as granted by a woman.
5. a. Something given as a token of love, affection, or remembrance. b. A small decorative gift given to each guest at a party.
6. Advantage; benefit: sailed under favor of cloudless skies.
7. Behalf; interest: an error in our favor.
8. Obsolete. A communication, especially a letter.
9. Archaic. a. Aspect or appearance. b. Countenance; face.
10. Obsolete. A facial feature.
verb
favored
, favoring, favors
verb
, transitive
1.
To perform a kindness or service for; oblige. See synonyms at oblige.
2.
To treat or regard with friendship, approval, or support.
3.
To be partial to; indulge a liking for: favors bright colors.
4.
To be or tend to be in support of.
5.
To make easier or more possible; facilitate: Darkness favored their escape.
6.
To treat with care; be gentle with: favored my wounded leg.
7.
Chiefly Southern U.S.. To resemble in appearance: She favors her father.
verb
, intransitive
Chiefly Southern U.S..
To resemble another in appearance: She and her father favor.
idiom.
in favor of
1.
In support of; approving: We are in favor of her promotion to president.
2.
To the advantage of: The court decided in favor of the plaintiff.
3.
Inscribed or made out to the benefit of: a check in favor of a charity.
[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin, from favēre, to be favorable.]
fa
ʹvorer noun
fa
ʹvoringly adverb
Regional Note:
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 transitiveShe favors her fatheror 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.