favorite

[ fey-ver-it, feyv-rit ]
/ ˈfeɪ vər ɪt, ˈfeɪv rɪt /

noun

a person or thing regarded with special favor or preference: That song is an old favorite of mine.
Sports. a competitor considered likely to win.
a person or thing popular with the public.
a person treated with special or undue favor by a king, official, etc.: favorites at the court.
Digital Technology. bookmark(def 3a).

adjective

regarded with particular favor or preference: a favorite child.
Also especially British, fa·vour·ite.

Origin of favorite

1575–85; < Middle French < Italian favorito, past participle of favorire to favor. See favor, -ite2

OTHER WORDS FROM favorite

non·fa·vor·ite, noun pre·fa·vor·ite, noun, adjective un·fa·vor·ite, adjective

Example sentences from the Web for favourite

British Dictionary definitions for favourite

favourite

US favorite

/ (ˈfeɪvərɪt, ˈfeɪvrɪt) /

adjective

(prenominal) most liked; preferred above all others

noun

  1. a person or thing regarded with especial preference or liking
  2. (as modifier)a favourite book
sport a competitor thought likely to win
(pl) computing a place on certain browsers that allows internet users to list the addresses of websites they find and like with a click of the mouse so that they can revisit them merely by opening the list and clicking on the address
play favourites to display favouritism

Word Origin for favourite

C16: from Italian favorito, from favorire to favour, from Latin favēre