préferé

Préféré is a French adjective and past participle meaning “preferred” or “favorite.” As an adjective it agrees in gender and number: masculin singulier préferé, féminin singulier préférée, masculin pluriel préférés, féminin pluriel préférées. It can also be used as a noun in some contexts to mean a person or thing that is someone's favorite, for example, “mon préféré” (my favorite).

Usage notes:

Typically, préferé modifies a noun directly, as in “son plat préféré” (his/her favorite dish) or “mes livres préférés.” When referring to a chosen option in a comparison, it conveys that one element is ranked above others. The word appears in the related noun form “préférence,” which denotes a general preference rather than a specific favorite item.

Morphology and grammar:

Préféré is derived from the verb préférer (to prefer). The feminine form adds an -e, and the plural forms add -s or -es as appropriate. As the past participle used with the auxiliary avoir, préféré is j’ai préféré (I preferred). In compound tenses with a preceding direct object, the past participle may agree in gender and number with that object, for example: les films que j’ai préférés.

Etymology:

The word comes from préféré, itself from préférer, ultimately from Latin praeferre, meaning “to bear before” or “to carry before.” The sense evolved in French to denote choosing one thing over others.

Translations and related terms:

Closest equivalents in English are “preferred” and “favorite.” Related French terms include préférence (preference) and préférer (to prefer).