Word.ws English Dictionary

preferment

/ˌpɹiːfəɹˈmɛnt//pɹɪˈfəːmənt/

preferment noun: prior claim (on payment, or on purchasing something); the first rights to obtain a particular payment or product.

Noun (1)

preferment (countable and uncountable, plural preferments)

  1. (historical) Prior claim (on payment, or on purchasing something); the first rights to obtain a particular payment or product.
  2. (obsolete) The fact of being pushed or advanced to a more favourable situation; furtherance, promotion (of a candidate, action, undertaking etc.).
    • But consider—you need not be afraid of delegating power to me. I am no young lady on her preferment. Married women, you know, may be safely authorised.1815, Jane Austen, Emma, volume III, chapter 6
    • A mind warranted from prejudice, hath a marvellous preferment [translating avancement] to tranquility.1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 12, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC
  3. Advancement to a higher position or office; promotion.
  4. A position (especially in the Church of England) that provides profit or prestige.
    • One hall called Civil Law Hall or School, flouriſhed about this time (though in its buildings decayed) by the care of the learned and judicious Dr. Will. Warham Principal or Moderator thereof; which he leaving this year (having before had ſeveral Deputies therein) becauſe of his preferment to the...1792, Anthony à Wood, The History and Antiquities of the University of Oxford: In Two Books, volume 1, Oxford: John Gutch, →OCLC, page 661
  5. (archaic) The fact of preferring something; preference.

Noun (2)

preferment (plural preferments)

  1. A mixture of flour, water and yeast that is allowed to ferment prior to another baking process.

preferment meaning in Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam

preferment in Urdu

برتری, بہتری

preferment in Bengali

পদোন্নতি, উচ্চতর পদে আসীন হওয়া

preferment in Malayalam

പ്രൊമോഷൻ, സ്ഥാനക്കയറ്റം

Forms of preferment

pluralpreferments
alternative formperferment

Origin of preferment

From Middle English preferment, preferrement, prefferment; equivalent to prefer + -ment.

From pre- + ferment.

Words formed from preferment

Questions about preferment

What does preferment mean?
Preferment means prior claim (on payment, or on purchasing something); the first rights to obtain a particular payment or product.
What is preferment in Urdu?
Preferment in Urdu is برتری, بہتری. See Preferment meaning in Urdu.
What part of speech is preferment?
Preferment is a noun.
How do you pronounce preferment?
Preferment is pronounced /pɹɪˈfəːmənt/ (UK).
What is the plural of preferment?
The plural of preferment is preferments.

Words near preferment in the dictionary

  1. preferer
  2. preferers
  3. prefering
  4. preferist
  5. preferists
  6. preferment
  7. preferment-hunting
  8. prefermentation
  9. prefermentations
  10. preferments
  11. preferr

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: preferment (page history and authors); preferment (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); preferment (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); preferment (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-preferment.wav.

Cite this entry: “preferment.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/preferment. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.