favor

Etymology

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.

noun

1. A kind or helpful deed; an instance of voluntarily assisting (someone).
   He did me a favor when he took the time to drive me home.
2. Goodwill; benevolent regard.
   She enjoyed the queen's favor.
   to fall out of favor
   Samara: She confuses her victims, twists their feelings. They will do anything for her favor. 2010, BioWare, Mass Effect 2 (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Normandy SR-2
3. A small gift; a party favor.
   At the holiday dinner, the hosts had set a favor by each place setting.
   A marriage favour is a bunch or knot of white ribbons or white flowers worn at a wedding.
4. Mildness or mitigation of punishment; lenity.
5. The object of regard; person or thing favoured.
6. (obsolete) Appearance; look; countenance; face.
7. (law) Partiality; bias
8. (archaic) A letter, a written communication.
9. (obsolete) Anything worn publicly as a pledge of a woman's favor.
10. (obsolete) A ribbon or similar small item that is worn as an adornment, especially in celebration of an event.
    The bride favors, or true love knots, ancient symbols of love, faith, and friendship, pointing out the indisssoluble tie of affection and duty, did not, as might be supposed, take their name of true love knots from the words "true" and "love,", but from the Danish verb "Trulofa," that is, "I plight my troth of faith." These knots were formerly distributed in great abundance; were worn in the hats by gentlemen, and consisted of variously colored ribbons, which were chosen by the bride and her maids, sometimes after long and serious discussions. 1853 May, E.R. Bowen, “Bride-Maids and Bride-Cake”, in Peterson's Magazine, volume 23, number 5, page 306
    Of all the new war cotillion favors yet devised there is hardly anything more novel than these. Aigrettes that are bunches of ribbons, red, white and blue, designed to be pinned in the hair at once, make up another favor. 1898, Melvin Ballou Gilbert, The Director - Volume 1, page 210
    Since the good news young folk—and old, too, for that matter—bedeck themselves with favors. Charms hand pendent from the watch chain, from neck pins. 1900, “From Abroad”, in The International, volume 8, page 415
    We can and should borrow choice items, such as bell pads, favors and flowered hats , which can easily be adapted […] 1991, Anthony G. Barrand, Six Fools and a Dancer: The Timeless Way of the Morris, page 178
    […] honor was bestowed upon the latter because he was the proud possessor of luxurious blond hair and had the most beautiful single curl tied with a ribbon. The lovelock was thereafter called a cadcnettc and the ribbon bowknots, favors. 2013, R. Turner Wilcox, The Mode in Hats and Headdress, page 109

verb

1. To look upon fondly; to prefer.
   Even in an era when individuality in dress is a cult, his clothes were noticeable. He was wearing a hard hat of the low round kind favoured by hunting men, and with it a black duffle-coat lined with white. 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 6, in The China Governess
2. To use more often.
   […] alone, without having to favor his right, uninjured leg, […] 2007, Bert Casper, Shadow Upon the Dream: Book 1: Barrûn, page 537
3. To encourage, conduce to
   These [boys being groomed as prostitutes] are sold by their parents (sometimes stolen from them), about the age of 4, and educated, while they are also subjected to a special physical training, which includes massage of the gluteal regions to favor development, dilatation of the anus, and epilation (which is not, however, practised by Chinese women). 1927, Havelock Ellis, Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 2 (of 6)
4. To do a favor [noun sense 1] for; to show beneficence toward.
   Would you favor us with a poetry reading?
5. To treat with care.
   Favoring your sore leg will only injure the other one.
6. (in dialects, including Southern US and Louisiana) To resemble; especially, to look like (another person).
   ‘Mandy?’ he said, and stared at the girl. ‘Don't favor her too much.’ ‘Favors her dad,’ Latha said, and looked at him. 1970, Donald Harington, Lightning Bug
   […] chamomile and apples? Those particular smellalikes tested our imagination. Yet much of what he said was right on the mark. The scent of sweet peas, for instance, does indeed favor that of wisteria. 1989, Rayford Clayton Reddell, Robert Galyean, Growing Fragrant Plants, page 13
   The way things repeat themselves, across time — not just in the replications and recombinations of family and place ("He favors his momma, she favors her daddy"), but in the accretion of like patterns […] 2012, Rick Bass, A Thousand Deer: Four Generations of Hunting and the Hill Country, page 63