English
favor
Favor comes from Middle English favour ‘goodwill’, from Latin favor ‘good will’, from faveō ‘to be kind to’, whose origin is uncertain.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfaveō‘to be kind to’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEfavor‘good will’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400favor
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400favour
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500favour‘goodwill’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1598–1600favor
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfaveō‘to be kind to’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEfavor‘good will’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400favor
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400favour
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500favour‘goodwill’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1598–1600favor
Earliest quotation: c. 1598–1600, William Shakespeare, As You Like It: “This boy is fair, of female favour.”
The story
Respelled in American English to more closely match its Latin etymon.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- ‘to shine, glow light’
phone, focus, fuel, professor, ben, phase, famous, ban, photographer, fantasy, emphasis, phenomenon, profession, bee, fancy, abandon, fate, fame, confession, fabulous, confess, fatal, fairy, phantom, symphony, beacon, infant, beck, boon, eff, bane, prophetic, epiphany, foyer, banish, buoy, fab, profess, bene, fay, 128 more
through Latin favor ‘good will’
Today it means
noun A kind or helpful deed; an instance of voluntarily assisting (someone).
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin faveō / favor