preferential

English

Alternative forms

• preferrential

Etymology

From Medieval Latin preferentia +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈpɹɛf.ɜː(ɹ)ˌɛn.ʃəl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Adjective

preferential (comparative more preferential, superlative most preferential)

1. Of or relating to the showing or giving of preference.

   Club members received preferential seating.

   preferential treatment

2. Of or relating to a voting system in which the voters are allowed to indicate on their ballots their preference (usually their first and second choices) between two or more candidates, so that if no candidate receives a majority of first choices the one receiving the greatest number of first and second choices together is the winner.

   preferential voting; the preferential system

Derived terms

• antipreferential
• nonpreferential
• nonpreferentially
• preferential attachment
• preferentially
• unpreferential
• unpreferentially

 

Translations

relating to preference

• Finnish: suosiva (fi), etuus-
• French: préférentiel (fr) m
• German: vorrangig (de)
• Greek: προτιμησιακός (el) (protimisiakós)
• Russian: льго́тный (ru) (lʹgótnyj)
• Spanish: preferente, preferencial