Prefer vs Refer - What's the difference?
prefer | refer |
*, II.3.2:
*:Tiberius preferred many to honours in his time, because they were famous whoremasters and sturdy drinkers.
(lb) To be in the habit of choosing something rather than something else; to favor; to like better.
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*:"My tastes," he said, still smiling, "incline me to the garishly sunlit side of this planet." And, to tease her and arouse her to combat: "I prefer a farandole to a nocturne; I'd rather have a painting than an etching; Mr. Whistler bores me with his monochromatic mud; I don't like dull colours, dull sounds, dull intellects;."
(lb) To present or submit (something) to an authority (now usually in "to prefer charges").
*1630 , , True Travels , in Kupperman 1988, p.36:
*:one Master David Hume, who making some use of his purse, gave him Letters to his friends in Scotland to preferre him to King James.
*1817 , (Walter Scott), , XVII:
*:Such were the arguments which my will boldly preferred to my conscience, as coin which ought to be current, and which conscience, like a grumbling shopkeeper, was contented to accept.
prefer'' + noun + ''to'' (or ''over'') + noun. Example: ''I prefer coffee to tea .
* prefer'' + gerund + ''to'' (or ''over'') + gerund. Example: ''I prefer skiing to swimming .
* prefer'' + full infinitive + ''rather than'' + bare infinitive. Example: ''I prefer to eat fish rather than (eat) meat .
To direct the attention of.
To submit to (another person or group) for consideration; to send or direct elsewhere.
To place in or under by a mental or rational process; to assign to, as a class, a cause, source, a motive, reason, or ground of explanation.
(rfex) To allude to, make a reference or allusion to.
# (grammar) to be referential to another element in a sentence
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In transitive terms the difference between prefer and refer
is that prefer is to present or submit (something) to an authority (now usually in "to prefer charges") while refer is to place in or under by a mental or rational process; to assign to, as a class, a cause, source, a motive, reason, or ground of explanation.As verbs the difference between prefer and refer
is that prefer is to advance, promote (someone) while refer is to direct the attention of.prefer
English
Alternative forms
* * preferreVerb
(preferr)Usage notes
* The verb can be used in three different forms: *Derived terms
* preference * preferentialrefer
English
Verb
(referr)- The shop assistant referred me to the help desk on ground floor.
- He referred the matter to the principal.
- to refer a patient to a psychiatrist
- He referred the phenomena to electrical disturbances.
