proffer

Etymology

The noun is derived from Middle English profre (“act of offering or presenting a gift; offer of something; challenge; sacrifice; act of petitioning or requesting; petition, request; proposal, suggestion; idea, thought; attempt, effort; appearance; (law) payment to the Exchequer by a sheriff or other officer of estimated revenue due to the monarch”) [and other forms], and then: * partly from Late Latin profrum, proferum (“payment to the Exchequer of estimated revenue due to the monarch (also puruoffrus), offer to convict a criminal”), and from its likely etymon Anglo-Norman profre, proffre, porofre (“payment to the Exchequer of estimated revenue due to the monarch; offer, proposal”), and * partly from the verb. The verb is derived from Late Middle English prouffer, prouffre, Middle English profren, profer, proffere (“to offer, propose; to deliver, hand over, present; to take up; to volunteer; to dedicate; to attempt, try; to risk; to challenge; to provide; to ask, invite; to proceed, start; to grant; to argue”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman profrer, proferer, profferer, proffrir, propherer, proufrir, and Old French proferir, proffrir, profrir (“to offer, propose; to present; to volunteer”), variants of Anglo-Norman puroffrir and Middle French poroffrir, paroffrir, Old French poroffrir, paroffrir, porofrir, from por-, pur- (prefix meaning ‘to go through’ or having an intensifying effect) + offrir, ofrir (“to offer”) (modern French offrir (“to offer; to give as a gift; to open oneself up to (someone)”)). Offrir is derived from Vulgar Latin *offerīre, from Latin offerre, present active infinitive of offerō (“to offer, present; to exhibit, show; to expose; to cause, inflict; to consecrate, dedicate; to sacrifice”) (from ob- (prefix meaning ‘against; towards’) + ferō (“to bear, carry; to support; to endure; to bring forth; to put in motion; to move forward”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- (“to bear, carry”))).

noun

1. An offer made; something proposed for acceptance by another; a tender.
   He said a reversionary proffer – saying the property would revert to its prior zoning if certain benchmarks were not met by the developers – was brought up in a conceptual discussion in a pre-application meeting in May 2014 with the developers, but did not progress beyond that. 29 December 2015, Carol Vaughn, “Atlantic Town Center Lawsuit Goes before a Judge”, in Delmarva Now, Salisbury, Md., archived from the original on 2019-12-28
2. (obsolete) An attempt, an essay.

verb

1. (transitive, reflexive) To offer for acceptance; to propose to give; to make a tender of.
   to proffer friendship, a gift, or services
   Thou proffers me of thy wages to have: / I thee defy, power, and all the leave, / That helps thee here of thy ſtout nation. 1665, [“Blind Harry”], chapter I, in The Life and Acts of the Most Famous and Valiant Champion, Sir William Wallace, Knight of Ellerslie, Maintainer of the Liberty of Scotland.[…], Glasgow: Printed by Robert Sanders,[…], →OCLC, 6th book, page 105
   If a Man, proffering to ſell Grain for Seed, ſhould ſell Grain which is not fit for Seed, the Magiſtrate ſhall chaſtiſe him, and take a Fine according to the Offence. 1776, “Chap. XVII. Of Theft.”, in Nathaniel Brassey Halhed, transl., A Code of Gentoo Laws, or, Ordinations of the Pundits,[…], London: [s.n.], →OCLC, section II (Of the Fines for Open Theft), page 244
   Thou proud knight, what profferest thou me so boldly? here gettest thou no prey; thou mayest prove when thou wilt, for thou shalt be my prisoner, or thou depart. 1816, Thomas Malory, “How King Arthur, after that He had Achieved the Battle against the Romans, Entered into Almaine, and so into Italy”, in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The History of the Renowned Prince Arthur, King of Britain; with His Life and Death, and All His Glorious Battles. […] In Two Volumes, volume I, London: Printed for Walker and Edwards; […], →OCLC, page 171
   They were to assure the strangers of a free passage through the country, and a friendly reception in the capital. The proffered friendship of the Spaniards was cordially embraced, with many awkward excuses for the past. The envoys were to touch at the Tlascalan camp on their way, and inform Xicotencatl of their proceedings. They were to require him, at the same time, to abstain from all further hostilities, and to furnish the white men with an ample supply of provisions. 1843, William H[ickling] Prescott, chapter III, in History of the Conquest of Mexico, with a Preliminary View of the Ancient Mexican Civilization. And the Life of the Conqueror, Hernando Cortes, author’s authorised edition, volume I, London: George Routledge and Sons, →OCLC, book III (March to Mexico), page 153
   Your daughter Célestine has too strong a sense of her duty to proffer a word of reproach. [1900s?], H[onoré] de Balzac, translated by James Waring, Cousin Betty (La Cousine Bette), New York, N.Y.: The Federal Book Company, →OCLC, page 383
   The queen rises up and takes Edward from me, and proffers the sleeping child to the king. He shrinks away. 'No, no. I don't want to hold it. Just tell me. Is this a girl or a boy?' 2011, Philippa Gregory, “Windsor Castle, Winter 1454”, in The Lady of the Rivers (The Cousins’ War), London: Simon & Schuster
2. (transitive, obsolete) To attempt or essay of one's own accord; to undertake or propose to undertake.