overwordExplorer
ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

favor.

A kind or helpful deed; an instance of voluntarily assisting (someone).

5 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈfeɪ.və/Received-Pronunciation/ˈfeɪ.vɚ/US
  1. A kind or helpful deed; an instance of voluntarily assisting (someone).

    countable · uncountable
    He did me a favor when he took the time to drive me home.
  2. Goodwill; benevolent regard.

    countable · uncountable
    She enjoyed the queen's favor.
    to fall out of favor
  3. A small gift; a party favor.

    countable · uncountable
    wedding favor
    At the holiday dinner, the hosts had set a favor by each place setting.
  4. Mildness or mitigation of punishment; lenity.

    countable · uncountable
  5. The object of regard; person or thing favoured.

    countable · uncountable
  6. Appearance; look; countenance; face.

    countable · obsolete · uncountable
  7. Partiality; bias

    countable · uncountable
  8. A letter, a written communication.

    archaic · countable · uncountable
  9. A resemblance, likeness.

    Northern-England · archaic · countable · uncountable
  10. Anything worn publicly as a pledge of a woman's favor.

    countable · obsolete · uncountable
  11. A ribbon or similar small item that is worn as an adornment, especially in celebration of an event.

    countable · historical · uncountable
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Latin faveō Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *-ōs Proto-Italic *-ōs Latin -or Latin favor Old French favorbor. Middle English favour English favor From Middle English favour, favor, faver, from Anglo-Norman favour, from mainland Old French favor, from Latin favor (“good will; kindness; partiality”), from faveō (“to be kind to”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂weh₁yeti (“to be favourable to”), from the root Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- (“to shine, glow light”). Respelled in American English to more closely match its Latin etymon. Compare also Danish favør (“favor”), Irish fabhar (“favor”), from the same Romance source.

verb/ˈfeɪ.və/Received-Pronunciation/ˈfeɪ.vɚ/US
  1. To look upon fondly; to prefer.

  2. To use more often.

  3. To encourage, conduce to

  4. To do a favor [noun sense 1] for; to show beneficence toward.

    Would you favor us with a poetry reading?
  5. To resemble; especially, to look like (another person).

  6. To treat or use (something) gently

    I always try to favor my bad knee.
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Latin faveō Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *-ōs Proto-Italic *-ōs Latin -or Latin favor Old French favorbor. Middle English favour English favor From Middle English favour, favor, faver, from Anglo-Norman favour, from mainland Old French favor, from Latin favor (“good will; kindness; partiality”), from faveō (“to be kind to”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂weh₁yeti (“to be favourable to”), from the root Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- (“to shine, glow light”). Respelled in American English to more closely match its Latin etymon. Compare also Danish favør (“favor”), Irish fabhar (“favor”), from the same Romance source.

FROM WORD TO NAME

Try it on your idea.

favor has 5 characters. Say it out loud, try it alongside a description of your project, and see whether its meaning fits what you want to create.

favor studiofavor workshello, favor

These are naming prompts. Meanings and pronunciation can vary; existing brand and domain uses have not been checked.

Explore the name generator

A word with a source.

Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.